The Secret
by Zosie
Summary: Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.  Edward has just met his new neighbours, but he remembers something his girlfriend knows nothing about, and there isn't any reason to tell her, right?  We all have secrets.M  Edward & Bella
1. Chapter 1

The Secret

Chapter 1

"Honey, do you know where my snowboots are?" Edward called, walking outside and standing close behind his girlfriend, pulling her smaller frame in close to his taller one. He kissed her neck and the top of her brown hair and looked at what she was looking at.

"Who are we spying on?" he whispered, looking through the shrubs beside the dividing fence as she was, his eyes catching sight of the new couple moving in next door. The removals truck was enormous and well packed with a lot of old, expensive, showy antique furniture.

"God, look at that sofa. And the bed!" his girl whispered excitedly.

Edward sighed. He knew she preferred antiques but he had grown up in a more relaxed house than she had and he preferred country style, leather lounges, white wooden cabinets, a big brass bed and as he had bought the house while they were still only dating casually, it was furnished to his taste, not hers.

He knew he should let her redecorate but the thought of a house filled with hideous stuff like their neighbors evidently liked filled him with dread. God no, he couldn't stand all that... pretension surrounding him.

A tall good looking blond man was ordering loudly where which piece of furniture went where.

"Jasper, relax, they know where kitchen furniture goes, in the kitchen, right?" a short brunette girl said, walking into their line of vision though they could only see the back of her. She was dressed so casually it was hard to imagine they were together. 'Jasper' as he was called had on designer jeans that cost a month's salary, and a hand made Italian silk shirt with a scarf, how weird, and his Italian 'cowboy' boots were pointy toed and highly polished.

She had on cheap jeans and a Tshirt and hoodie, and a pair of sneakers, none of which looked expensive or new.

Edward liked that, a woman who knew how to dress down for appropriate occasions.

His girl always seemed to spend two hours getting herself perfect before poking her nose out of the bedroom and en suited bathroom.

Nobody, including himself, had ever seen her without make-up. Maybe the obstetrician who delivered her had gotten a glimpse before she was old enough to know how to cover up and beautify herself but nobody else had ever caught her bare and natural. Not that she even needed the cosmetic help, Edward suspected. Her bone structure was perfect, her eyes were deep pools and her lips pouty and perky at the same time. She radiated energy and he liked that, he just wished she was as energetic in bed.

It would take time to adjust to one anothers needs and likes and desires, he knew that, but two years and not much progress frustrated him.

"Feel like sneaking upstairs?" he asked, now the thought was there the desire was filling his body. She stiffened and pulled away.

"Edward, I have things that need doing. The washing, the cooking..."

"The boyfriend," he added hopefully.

"Later. Tonight."

"Promise?" he pushed, needing her to swear. So many nights she sat up studying and resented his attempts to lure her into bed with him instead and he often fell asleep before she slipped in beside him, probably relieved he was asleep, he suspected. He wondered if he was over-sexed, and she under-sexed, they certainly had not found a happy compromise yet. He always wanted more and she less.

He had never forced her to proceed when she was not in the mood but her good moods were few and far between. He was convinced they had enjoyed sex more often when all they had was the backseat of his car.

He shook the mood off, showing his neediness never helped, it just made her nervy and apologetic. They would work it out.

It just took time.

She was the first 'proper' girlfriend he had dated and she was standout special from the start. Leah, Tanya and Irina had all been the type of girls you dated and enjoyed and moved on from, none had ever made him want to nest like she had. She had resisted moving in for ages, six months, she couldn't leave her Dad, she wanted to stay independent, she wasn't sure if they had what it took to make a permanent match.

He had worn her down, convinced her things would be perfect once they shared the same domicile.

Perfection remained just out of their reach, but 'it took time'.

Fuck time.

"Oh, look at that, he has his own home gym," she whispered. Edward looked at the man and decided this Jasper was probably stronger and fitter than he was but he hated gym and workouts. Running was his limit, he enjoyed the time alone, pounding the pavements in the dead of night or early mornings, nobody watching, judging, getting in his way. No bikes or prams or kids with scooters. No women leering at his good looks and no girls trying to chat him up.

He always thought girls were meant to be the flames and boys the moths, but he rarely met a woman who hadn't been willing to make the first move on him. He rarely ever got time to look them over and decide if he liked what he saw during his years at college, before the girl in question would appear beside him, offering more than a drink. Those had been awkward nights, almost always turning them down before he met her and became one half of a couple.

His girl had been different, shy, unsure, pretty beyond doubt, but not aggressive or pushy at all. He had flown to her flame and he liked that, it was the first time it had happened.

His phone buzzed and he pulled it out and cringed.

"Fucking Tanya, what does she not get? Over is over. I dumped her for Irina, her own sister and she still didn't get it. I gave up and dumped Irina and met you and three years later the stupid cow is still texting me. I guess I need another new sim card."

He had changed his number six monthly because of her and it was a massive pain in the ass.

Contacting everyone yet again; he was sure they were all sick of 'Edward has a new number. Please delete his old number and replace it with 555 XXXXXX.' What else could he do? Yet she always found him.

"Here, let me," she said, opening the message.

_Hey Eddie, isn't the little woman away this weekend? Wanna Party? Come over, anytime, I shall be waiting. Naked. Picture to follow."_

She shuddered and hit 'delete' as the next text arrived, not wishing to see that.

This was too much, time for a clear message.

She quickly typed in her own answer and hit 'reply' as Edward smirked beside her.

_Fuck the hell off, I would not want to meet up with you if you were the only woman left in the universe. This won't change. Leave me alone, I am getting married next month and my wife will put a restraining order out on you if you don't desist._

"So, are we?" he asked her.

"What? Getting a restraining order? Sure, Charlie will oblige if it will help her understand the extremely cryptic message she just got. Is she dumb or is English her second language?"

"Just dumb, the saying 'dumb blond' was coined just for her," he replied, taking his phone back and putting it in his pocket. "No, I meant, are we getting married next month? We could, you know."

"Edward, don't be absurd. I don't do marriage, you know that."

"Not even to me? You are the most special girl I ever met, I want to keep you," he added. "And Esme and Carlisle want you to be the daughter they never had. You would make three people very happy."

"Well, we will see. I think maybe five years living together would be my limit. If we aren't ready for the whole nine yards by then, then we call it a day. Okay?"

"We will be ready," he assured her. He felt like he was nearly there already but he knew he was a long way in front of her that way. Skittish over her own parents broken marriage, he suspected. Damned parents. It was true, childhood is what you spend the rest of your life trying to overcome.

xxx xxx

They lay in bed together that night and Edward pulled her in close to his chest.

"Remember your promise," he said huskily, kissing her gently.

"I'm really tired, could I have a raincheck until the morning?" she asked back.

Edward sat up and clicked his bedside lamp on.

"We need to talk. What's up, Babe, don't I do it for you any more?"

"Edward, I explained I was tired. I did a lot of work today. Physical stuff, I'm just too worn out to put in what it takes for our usual session."

"I would settle for short and sweet at this point, I have waited all day."

"I know, and it is unfair of me, but wake me early, right before you go for your run, and I promise..."

"Swear to me, babe, I don't want to be left hanging again like this. I need you Babe."

"Edward, could you not call me Babe please. It reminds me of your brother."

"Emmett? Why would it remind you of him?"

"You haven't noticed he calls every girl he meets Babe? It's his stock name for them all so he doesn't have to remember their actual names. I just think it's too impersonal."

"Sorry, I could always call you Honeybun."

"Even that would be an improvement."

"Just tell me it's not becoming a problem, you do still enjoy making love with me, right? I'm not doing anything wrong?"

"No, Edward, it's a me thing. I get nervous about the future. You see it so clearly, I just don't know if I believe as much as you do that we are forever."

"Marry me and make it so."

"No, that would be the opposite of helpful."

"I wish you would tell me about your first lover, I promise not to get jealous or act like a caveman. I need to know, did you make love with him more often than we do? Is it an us problem? Or are you just not that into sex?"

"I guess he and I did do it more often but it was new, something exciting, fresh, daring. There was always the threat we would get caught and my Dad would shoot him or something."

"So, you don't find sex with me exciting?" Edward asked.

"You know what I mean, when it's with your first, it's different. You refuse to tell me about your first so why would I share my history with you anyway?"

"Okay, that's a fair comment. My first. I was dating Leah Clearwater, we were building up to doing 'it', getting there step by step, the plan was the cliche Prom night scenario. She fell in love with Sam and dumped me a week before Prom."

"Oh how horrible. I'm sorry, Edward. So, she wasn't your first?"

"No, she was my almost first. I met this girl from out of town, Arizona. She was here for a wedding, only staying a week. I met her out running, she twisted her ankle, I took her home to our house because we had ice and liniment from Emm playing football. I iced her up and we sat by the pool and just talked and I ended up telling her about Leah and she suggested I take her to the Prom instead, seeing I had the tickets and the suit and the corsage. She pointed out we would never see each other again, she could be the mystery lady in my life and leave the other students guessing about who she was, where she came from, how come we were together. The idea appealed, it was better than sulking at home or going alone."

"What was her name?"

"Izzy. Izzy Dwyer."

"Never heard of her."

"You wouldn't have, I don't think she ever came back here again. If she did, she never contacted me."

"So, you took her to Prom..."

"And she did a fantastic job, the whole room was full of students talking about what the hell was going on, where was Leah? Why was I with Izzy? She laid it on, kissed me, held my hand, danced every dance with me, refused all offers to dance with Newton or Crawley, the usual suspects. Said she was sorry but she couldn't bear to be away from me for a whole dance.

So, we had a great night. She was funny, happy, friendly to the group, had Emmett scratching his head, it was just an amazing night instead of an embarrassing one. She told me to stage this "We just aren't meant to be, I'm sorry. I hope you find someone you truly can love, but it's not me, I am not The One for you. I'm sorry" scene at the end of the night in front of everyone. I did it, she fake cried and said she would love me always. I got lots of cred for tossing aside such a beautiful girl, I was The Man.

She came home with me, we had the house to ourselves, Carlisle and Esme were at a wedding. I remember there were three weddings that weekend alone in Forks so they were out a lot. We got a little drunk on Carlisle's liquor and went up to my bedroom and she fell asleep on my bed with me. A while later we woke up. We started just kissing and touching each other a bit then it got hot and heavy and we had sex. Next morning she left before my hungover parents made an appearance, she called a cab and disappeared. I never saw her again. The end. Now tell me yours."

"I was with Riley from grade school, we did the usual High School stuff but not the whole thing until we got carried away one time my dad was at work and we were home alone. Riley used to sneak in my bedroom window and stay the night if Dad was on night shift. This one night he was anxious because we were about to finish High School and his parents were moving to New York to be close by while he attended NYU. I was going to SeattleU. It just seemed like time to do it, and we had a deadline. After that first time,we slept together every chance we got until he moved away. We both moved on, long distance was never going to work. We met new people and I started dating other guys and that was it.

So, yes, Riley and I made love a lot, most days and nights, but we knew it was going to end so we got in as much us time as we could. We were under pressure, so we made ourselves our priorities and ignored all our friends, and just had a lot of sex.

It's different with us, we have lots of time, Edward. We don't have to cram in a lot of loving in a short space. I'm happy, I thought you were too."

"I'm not saying I am not happy, I just wish you wanted us to have more sex. Some months it's like one single time, it's just not enough. I would like us to really try and do it maybe two or three times a week at first and hopefully improve from there. What do you think? Do you want us to have a chance of making it and getting married one day, when you are ready?"

She was quiet at first, then she sat up and faced him.

"Here's the thing. I always expected to feel more than I do. I mean, I loved Riley, then I thought I loved a couple of other guys along the way, then I met you and it seemed like you made me feel more than anyone else had, but it still just doesn't feel like I expected. You know, like in the movies and books. I thought you felt like you couldn't bear to be apart, you felt torn and empty until you saw one another again, all that stuff. It isn't like that , we both do our own thing and go places apart and we even did separate holidays, you went off with Emmett and I went with my dad, it's just not how I expected to feel. I keep wondering if this is all there is."

"I think in time our feelings will grow, don't you? It hasn't been like this for me, with anyone else."

He did wonder at times if there should be something more, so he understood what she said. He had hoped for rainbows and earth moving sex and more of a connection, he guessed. But it must take time.

He wanted what his parents had.

They acted like newly weds still, and could never get enough of each other. He had been very glad his bedroom in their house was upstairs from theirs, he had heard enough sounds coming from their bedroom when he went downstairs in the night to get a drink.

He had expected once he lived with his girl, things would be like that. Both of them insatiable, always at it now they had the privacy and space to have sex any time they were both home.

He had never expected her to put the housework above love-making. He helped out, did whatever she asked him to. He was no old fashioned man who expected the little woman to keep the house while he watched sport and drank beer with his mates. He did as much as she did, and was always happy to cook dinner. He did the grocery buying, and was no stranger to washing clothes.

It just seemed sometimes like they were just playing house, not living the life his parents lived.

He thought if they got married there would be that added sense of commitment and it would all click into place.

Now he was bothered.

Although he said she should tell him and he wouldn't be affected, it did sting that Riley had made her want to have sex more often, daily, daily and nightly for God's sake, could you imagine how awesome that would be?

He looked at her and sighed as she snored lightly. Asleep already.

Well, there was tomorrow morning to look forward to. He would not let her leave this bed until they made love twice, he decided.

He rolled away and hugged his pillow and willed his erection to give up and let him sleep.

xxx xxx

Morning broke and Edward reached out across the bed and sat up in frustration. She was up already.

"Good morning Edward. You slept in. I have cooked breakfast, get dressed and come down to the kitchen," she ordered, bustling out with an arm full of his work clothes to wash.

He punched the pillow and climbed out of bed, pulling on his running gear. He paused on hearing a knock at their front door as he ran down the staircase, and changed direction to open the door.

There stood their new neighbors they had spied on yesterday.

"Hello there, I am Jasper Whitlock, this is my girlfriend Bella Swan, we are your new neighbors. Thought we would pop in and say hi and introduce ourselves formally."

Edward shook the offered hand Jasper had extended and Ali came to his side.

"I'm Edward Cullen, this is my girlfriend Ali, welcome to the neighborhood."

Jasper seemed like the kind of man Edward liked, maybe they would become friends. He glanced at Bella Swan and his mouth gaped in shock. She bit her lower lip and slightly shook her head warningly.

"Come in, have you had breakfast? Edward slept in, I have cooked heaps, come into the kitchen and have coffee at least, if you have eaten," Ali invited obliviously.

"Breakfast smells amazing. We don't have the power on, it goes on sometime today, we hope, so anything hot would be fantastic. We bought cinnamon rolls," Jasper answered, taking the box from his girl's hands and handing it to Ali as she bustled to the kitchen with him.

Edward stood awkwardly, staring at Bella Swan.

"Hello Edward" she said.

"Hello, Izzy," he replied quietly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Updates about every 25 reviews.**

The Secret

Chapter 2

Alice shared out the hot food and made more toast with Bella's help and after finishing every scrap, they moved on to coffee and cinnamon rolls from the bakery.

"So, what do you guys do for a living?" Ali asked.

"I'm the new psychologist attached to Forks Hospital but I will have my private rooms as well, and Bella is an author."

"Wow. Edward is a doctor at the hospital, you must know his father, Dr Carlisle Cullen?" Alice replied excitedly.

"Carlisle, of course. Great doctor, great man. So good to see such an excellent Chief of Medicine way out here. Unexpected but cool. I am looking forward to working with him, and with you, Edward," Jasper replied.

"And you are an author, Bella. Have you been published?" Alice asked politely.

"My first book is about to be released, but I actually prefer the one I am reworking now. I just think it's better. Jas and my publisher both thought Hearts Desire was the better story so I bowed to their superior knowledge."

"It's not that it's the better story, it's just more commercial and that's what you need to start out. People buying it, so then they look for your next book, and that one can be more artsy and individual. It's just good business sense to lead with what sells."

Edward was quiet, watching Bella Swan's face. She caught him a few times when she glanced his way, and she blushed a becoming shade of pink at his scrutiny.

"Edward, help me clear the table, please," Alice trilled.

"I will. Let's let the men chat and get to know each other," Bella immediately offered, standing to stack plates and cups.

Edward was greatly relieved, the pictures in his head had caused a slight problem. Rather a large, long, hard problem and he didn't want to have to stand and reveal it in front of company.

Izzy was here, in his house.

Izzy, his first, his most memorable experience of his life.

They had both admitted to being virgins and had decided to work out how things happened together, it seemed she was as anxious to cash her v-card as he was.

The first time had been somewhat ordinary, as most first times were, for her anyway. Edward had never felt such pleasure before so when she suggested he just think of his own satisfaction and she would catch up next try, he had blessed her reverently and moved inside her until he experienced the most exquisite thrill of his life.

Then he had touched her to bring her to her peak, and they had tried again. And again. Practice makes perfect, each try was better than the last, longer, deeper, more sensational for both. It had been fun as well, light hearted, she had suggested things that may help her along and he had happily complied. He learnt much about how to please a woman's body that night and how utterly pleasurable the experience could be for himself as well. Giving as well as taking, sharing themselves with each other. It was quite a night, and a single morning coupling had brought them both to the brink together and the experience to a close. He had felt different afterwards, older, bolder, suddenly aware sex was about two people, not just a man having some fun. It had to be good for the girl too, and he silently pledged to always make sure any girl who allowed him inside her would remember the experience as wonderful and memorable, too, hopefully.

He had thought about her often over the years, she had been his spank bank material when periods of drought had hit, and that alone had ensured his sex life was always exciting, even if solo.

His affair with Tanya had been quite a disappointment by comparison. The girl was way too selfish and cold, Izzy had kissed him and made him feel special, and had appreciated his efforts to make her enjoy it as well. She had lay there in his arms afterwards, close and contented and let him cuddle and kiss and talk all he wanted.

Tanya was loud and demanding and shouted instructions like some football coach, getting irate if he was not doing exactly what she wanted in that moment. She wasn't into kissing or cuddling, when she was done it was over, and she made him feel like some gigolo so it had not lasted long. She always had a reason why he couldn't sleep over afterwards, she liked her bed to herself once she was done with him. Deciding he was done with her had been easy but she refused to accept the words he spoke and she called and appeared on his doorstep for weeks afterwards, angry if he was dating another girl, making a scene whenever they ran into one another at a club or bar.

He had started dating Irina in self defense, when Tanya refused to back off.

Although Tanya didn't actually like him much he suspected, she apparently decided she did like what he did in bed, and for her, that was more than enough reason for them to stay together.

Not for Edward, he needed some connection, even if not anything promising a future.

Irina had been nicer, kinder, and he had enjoyed dating her but Tanya made things impossible and they had mutually decided they were fighting an uphill battle and any future for them would be hard and fraught with problems so they broke up and moved on.

He had been alone for a while, dating casually, not finding anyone who lit his fire, when he met Alice.

She was so pretty and happy and energetic, he had felt revitalized in her company, and after he bought her that first drink, things had progressed from there. He knew from the start he was more into her than she was to him, but wasn't every relationship like that, one loved more than the other?

What she felt was enough to build on, and they both tried to fit the pieces and make the picture as pretty as it could be.

His parents were head over heels about her and adored her in a way they never had before with any of his or Emmett's dates, so Edward had been encouraged, even when it seemed like he was the one always having to do the chasing and pushing to get her to each new level.

Victory had been his in the end, she lived with him now, but was it enough?

Suddenly he was filled with doubt. Facing the fact he had felt more of a connection in that single night with Izzy than in all the years he and Ali had dated and then lived together seemed to make what he had now look a little forced and not as happy as he had imagined.

Jasper and Alice hit it off in a big way, they were soon chatting together and he took her next door to show her his gym.

Bella sat down on the sofa and Edward sat opposite her.

"So, we meet again," he started with, grinning a little. "How have you been?"

"Fine. This is a shock to me to be honest, I expected you would have quit this one horse town long ago."

"One horse towns suit me, I prefer the quiet life."

"You have a lovely home," she said, standing and walking about the room, touching things that appealed to her. She ran a finger over the keys on his baby grand piano.

"Do you play?" she asked.

"Yes, that's mine. I have played since I was four. My parents believe in giving kids plenty of experiences in life and music has always been a passion of mine."

She blushed and he smiled at her.

"I never expected to see you again. What happened? When did you leave Arizona?"

"A few years ago, I didn't actually still live there when we met. I was here for a wedding, my father's in fact, and I met Jas there, he was with some relative of the bride's, and we seemed to click so when we realized we lived quite near one another in NY, we started dating. I was in my second year at NYU. I was shocked when he told me his family lived in Forks. It seemed like the place was weaving a web and trying to ensure here was where I would end up living. He graduated and did his residency and applied for the position here with your father, though I didn't know that was your father. We both dislike the hustle and bustle of the big city, it's a better place here to raise kids."

Alice and Jas returned at that point and all four talked about what Forks had to offer and Jas and Edward discovered some mutual friends. Jasper was two years older than him but he remembered Emmett from Forks High School and was looking forward to meeting him again so they made plans to all get together for dinner the next weekend at Bella and Jasper's first social gathering next door.

"We can grill meat and drink beer and let the ladies natter. Is Emm married?" Jas asked.

"Emm will never get married, you could bet your life on that," Ali answered. "Any Cullen grandchildren will be up to Edward to produce."

"Do you two plan to have kids?" Bella asked.

Edward hesitated, unsure of the answer. He wanted to but as always, he was much more ready than Ali so he let her answer.

"That's the question. We would never have a child unless we got married first and did the whole white picket fence bit. We are waiting to see if we stay together first. We have a five year plan. At the end of that we either marry or split up. It could go either way but we both hope it works. I just hope we don't get into any unplanned situation and have to make premature choices. It bothers me that no form of contraception is 100%. Makes me nervous," Ali replied, looking at Edward.

"Yes, I know what you mean," said Jasper. "We kind of got caught off guard, we have a daughter ourselves. She is with my parents this week, just so we have a chance to get the house sorted and enrol her in the local school and so on."

"What's her name?" Ali asked.

"Calista," answered Jasper smiling."It means 'most beautiful'. Bella chose it because she insists Calista's father is the most beautiful person she ever saw. I'm flattered but she overestimates my looks."

Edward was watching Bella's face and he noticed her refusal to look at him, and the blush rising on her face.

"How old is she?" he asked.

"She turned nine last month," Jas answered.

Or another way of saying it was she was born nine months after Edward's Senior Prom, he immediately calculated.

The electrician arrived next door and brought the gathering to an end as Jas and Bella went out to meet him.

"So, they seem nice. Jasper is so interesting, he has been everywhere and done everything. I wish we had traveled."

"We still could. Where would you like to go?" Edward asked.

"Everywhere," she answered dreamily.

xxx xxx

Edward was mowing the back yard when he had the feeling someone was watching him. He glanced up at the upper windows of the house next door and saw Bella standing in her bedroom, staring blatantly at him. He stopped and pulled his shirt up to wipe the sweat from his brow and took a drink from his water bottle on the table.

He noticed a small face peering over the fence and immediately cut the lawn mower's power so it shuddered to a stop.

"Hello, you must be Calista," he said, walking closer to the fence.

She was very short for her age, tiny and delicate and he scrutinised her face for any resemblance to himself. She was perched on an old wooden chair and clasped a doll of some sort in one hand, the other held onto the fence. Long slim fingers, she would make a good piano player, he thought.

He sighed, her hair was hidden under her sunhat so no clue other than the loose curly tendrils around her little heart shaped face were brown. Her eyes were those of her mothers. Edward had never forgotten those eyes. Deep pools of brown velvet.

As if sensing what he wanted, Calista took her hat off and shook her waist length hair out. It was brunette as he expected but the sun caught the coppery sheen and he tried to remember what exact color Bella's own highlights were. He knew her hair shone reddish in the sun, but was it this shade?

Suddenly Bella herself was beside the girl.

"Hi, you look hot," she said then blushed at the double meaning of her words.

"It's quite a workout with a yard this big," Edward answered.

"So, you have met Calista. I hope she is being polite," Bella said smiling and ruffling her daughter's hair.

"Calista honey, come here for a minute please," called Jasper from inside, and the child climbed down and headed for the house.

"I worked out when she was conceived," Edward said, watching Bella's eyes for any sign this bothered her. "Bella, is she mine? I have to ask."

"Children don't belong to anyone, Edward. But no, since you ask, she isn't yours, she is Jaspers. We didn't set out to conceive her but the first month we were together, she decided to join the family so here she is."

"Was that the same month..."

"No, I had a period after we... She was conceived the next month but born a month premature so I know it looks like she could be yours but believe me, she isn't."

"Okay, I just thought..."

"I know. No, she is Jas through and through though she hasn't taken on much in the way of his looks."

"She is beautiful, probably because she took after the most beautiful girl in the world, rather than her 'most beautiful person' father," he said, using her own reason for the child's name.

Bella blushed and stepped back.

"I should go. I have heaps to do before everyone gets here. Is Emmett bringing a date?" she asked.

"I really don't think you would want any of the women Emm dates visiting your house, seeing you have a child and all. They are not the kind of women you take home."

"Okay...Jas's sister Rosalie is coming, she just broke up with her boyfriend, I hope she isn't too bolshy about it. She screeched on the phone to me about what a complete loser he was for an hour, it wasn't pretty. I hope she has it out of her system before tonight."

"Edward," called Ali, walking towards them. "Hi Bella, are you sure I can only make the deserts? They are done already, I have time if you need me to make some side dishes for the meat."

"Ali makes a delicious potato and bacon and egg dish with mayonnaise," Edward stated.

"Oh, okay, that sounds good. Only if you want to , Ali. Thanks. See you both later," Bella said, walking inside.

"She is so nice, Edward, I really like her," Alice stated as she grabbed his hand and led him inside.

That was the problem, Edward thought. Bella was so nice. And he had a history with her. It was going to be hard.

Hard to be good.

xxx xxx

"Emmett, this is Rosalie, she is a little emotional at the moment, she just ended a long term relationship, so maybe you could distract her," Jas said, winking at Emm.

"May I buy a gorgeous girl a drink?" Emm asked, leading her to Jasper's bar set up in the back room that had wide doors opening into the backyard where the grill was.

Edward was playing chef and cooking the meat, Bella and Alice were bringing out bowls of salads and side dishes and placing them on the outdoor table.

"So, what do you think? A couple made in Heaven, maybe?" Ali whispered, nodding at Emm and Rose.

"More like Hell, but you never know. Rose is pretty strong willed, at least Emmett looks like he could tackle her to the ground if she gets out of hand with him," Bella answered. She remembered Emmett from the Prom though he clearly did not recall her at all, Thank the Gods.

Maybe the name threw him off track,or maybe her rack was not memorable enough. She remembered him rating the girls at Prom by their upper assets.

What was he even doing at that Prom, she wondered. He was two years ahead of Edward at school, he would have been in his second year at college at that time.

"Bella, could you take the marinated chicken to Edward, please," Ali asked, tackling the task of icing the cake that would be the main item for desert.

Bella approached him slowly, wondering how they were going to handle the past. It wasn't like they had been a couple, so they couldn't even admit to once being boyfriend/girlfriend, something everyone would understand and accept. We all have pasts, but her past with Edward was sort of hard to explain.

They were not even friends, merely strangers who met and spent the next night together. She had honestly only wanted to return the favor by going to his Prom after he bandaged her ankle and made the sprain go away within hours. Maybe sitting with it dangled in the pool those few hours they had talked had been the cure, who knows?

He was a doctor, maybe even back then he had the instincts doctor's had. What happened later that Prom night had been impulsive and unplanned.

She was glad he had asked about Calista's paternity, she knew what he would assume but she was being perfectly open and up front. She did not lie well, therefore avoided ever lying.

Though if she was absolutely completely honest, when she found out she was pregnant she had briefly fantasized the baby was his and that's when she thought of the name. In a way, her daughter had been named after him, the most beautiful man she had ever laid eyes on, not her actual father Jasper Whitlock.

Jas had proposed when she told him she was pregnant to him and she had considered accepting for the baby's sake but the word would not come out of her mouth and he had hurried on, breaking the awkward silence, saying maybe they should wait until they were sure things would work out, babbling on to cover her inability to answer him.

She had been caught out and she supposed she had deserved to be, but she had always regretted it was with the wrong man. Not the wrong man, she immediately chided herself for thinking. Just the lesser beautiful of the two. How sweet it would have been to mother Edward's child, even though she would never have confronted him about it. He was someone she met so briefly and never spoke to again, it would never have worked anyway.

She hated even thinking about the fact she was a year older than him, she had been a college girl losing her virginity to technically a high school student. Though it had been after Prom, did that make it better?

"Oh, thanks," he said, turning and taking the foil pan from her hand and carefully laying out the chicken on the hot smoking grill.

"Has Ali taken over yet? She can never go to any party without taking over all arrangements," he explained.

"It's good of her to do it, she has everything going like clockwork. I never get everything ready at the same time, we often find the potatoes in foil still hard when the steak is ready. Ali seems to be right on top of things. She is great," Bella replied.

"She is, I think so anyway," Edward smiled, looking across the yard to the house at his girl as Ali spoke on the phone tucked under her chin as she bustled around getting glasses lined up and washing her utensils as she worked.

"She exhausts me just watching her," Bella admitted.

"Why the name change, Izzy," Edward asked suddenly.

"Oh, my Mom, she remarries. It's her hobby. She took me away from my Dad when I was three and married Phil Dwyer when I was five. We assumed at the time it would be permanent so she had my name changed to Isabella Dwyer and he called me Izzy. Just to be different to my Dad, he calls me Bells. Probably some alpha male thing. 'I own your daughter now, she shall have MY choice of name, not yours.' Of course, Mom divorced and remarried so often I should have been named Isabella X. I kept Phil's name until I met Jasper, I had refused to keep up with all the other surnames each new marriage. It just seemed time to be a Swan again."

Calista ran up and held her arms out to Bella and she swung her daughter up onto her hip. Only the fact she was such a tiny child made the move look natural even at her age. An averagely sized nine year old child would have bent Bella in two.

"I want chicken, please," Calista asked Edward.

"This looks like a nice piece, just let me check it's cooked all the way through. Nope, needs a few minutes," he said smiling at the child. She was undoubtedly the prettiest little girl he had seen.

"Mom says you are going to be my doctor," the child continued.

"Really, that will be fun. You should come see me at work and I can get your history and show you around the hospital. We have a great Children's ward but we don't want you doing anything to end up in there, do we?" he replied.

"I wouldn't mind breaking my leg, then Mom and Dad would have to carry me everywhere," she answered cheekily.

"You would soon get sick of that," her mother pointed out, placing her feet back on the grass.

Edward plated the chicken and Bella took her child away to sit her at the table next to Emmett and Rose. Rose smiled and touched Calista's hair and her face softened as she spoke to the little girl, helping her cut the flesh from the bone..

Clearly a woman who would like to be a mother, Edward thought, watching. Well, maybe she should be looking elsewhere because everyone knew Emmett was not husband material, let alone a future father.

The night passed companionably, and Edward was glad they all seemed to mesh and get along. Emmett was doing a great imitation of listening to Rose as they sat together on a bench under the trees and Edward suspected he would be making his move soon, Emm never wasted an entire evening before letting whatever girl he was with know how the night would be ending.

He just hoped the fallout would not affect the new friendship he was enjoying between he and Ali, and Jas and Bella.

xxx xxx

Monday morning Edward got up late and wandered downstairs. There was a knock as he neared the bottom of the staircase and he opened the front door to the sight of a smiling Bella loaded down with plastic containers.

"Hi, is Ali home? I thought maybe you two could help us eat all the leftovers."

"Ali works five mornings a week and has class afternoons," Edward answered, taking the pile of Tupperware from her and leading the way to the kitchen. He stowed everything into the fridge and held up the coffee pot in question.

"Sure, let me make it, you look like Hell. Too much beer last night?" she asked, moving to get mugs and Edward handed her the milk from the fridge before closing the door. "Though actually I didn't see you drink any, come to think of it."

"I just didn't sleep well. I had things on my mind," he admitted.

Bella made the coffee and placed his cup in front of him and Edward added sugar.

"What things, or am I crossing the line by asking?" Bella asked, sitting down opposite him at the kitchen table.

"Has Alice mentioned Tanya in your chats together?" he asked.

"Oh, the stalker. How very Hollywood of you, Edward. I thought they were restricted to the rich and famous."

"Clearly not seeing I am neither. Tanya is becoming a real problem, I am starting to worry she is becoming more than a mere annoyance. She rang me about a dozen times last night so I barely slept. I was on call thus the lack of beer drinking, and I couldn't turn my phone off."

"What do you think she will do next?" Bella asked.

"I just worry she will try something with Alice. She sent her a photo in her email account, it was a very badly photoshopped picture of Tanya and I together. I think the fact she used an old photo of me in my high school uniform is what freaked me out the most. She looked like some cougar coming on to a kid."

"Is that how you thought of me?" Bella asked, smiling. "I was an older woman."

"I hardly think one year older makes you a cougar," he replied, placing his mug down and shifting uncomfortably. He wished she would not talk about them when Ali was being like this. Still no sex, she had a yeast infection now and so there would be yet another week before he got to scratch his itch.

"You look uncomfortable, Edward. Don't you think we should be friends? I would never tell anyone about..."

"No, it's not that. It's just that you exude sexuality and my brain keeps showing me the slide show of that one night we shared so I spend my whole life on edge, needing relief and Ali is indisposed at present. I would never do anything behind her back and I know you would never betray Jasper, it's just the truth about the way things are between you and I," he added.

"Maybe I shouldn't come here when Ali isn't home anyway," she answered.

"No, Izzy, it's fine. We just need some rules, no getting too close to one another, no touching," he smirked.

"That is a good rule, God knows my hands long to run themselves through your hair, it's still amazing. I loved it the first moment I saw it, glinting in the sun when you were running that day."

"Yeah, well maybe we should not talk about those days and maybe I will make it through the day without a permanent rod in my pants," he sighed.

"I should go, let you get showered. You must have things to do before you go on shift."

He did. First he had a shower to take and an urge to fulfil solo, then he should go find out what he could do legally about Tanya.

"Thanks for the food. See you later," he said as she opened the front door, pausing before turning away and leaving. He sighed as the door closed. Goddamit, just his luck, a reluctant girl in his bed and a sex bomb he had the pleasure of being with once next door. The universe hated him.

xxx xxx xxx

"So, you are saying this Tanya Denali has not actually done anything threatening or illegal? No trespassing? No breaking in?" Charlie Swan asked for clarification.

"No, just calls, texts, unwanted contact via our computer and phone," Edward agreed.

"Then there's not much you can do. Block her user, change your number."

"I do those things regularly, she always finds my new details. She must be hacking into my account or something."

"You got Facebook and other social networking? Maybe shut down your accounts and get rid of anything with your details. Shut your email down, if it's not work related. Leave off the internet use for a while. Beat her my ignoring her. If you don't get her emails, she won't be a nuisance."

"I guess that's all I can do. At what point does she qualify for a restraining order?" he asked.

"Edward, those things can stir up more trouble that you want to know about. How's your girlfriend by the way? I haven't seen her around in a while. I like Alice," he admitted. "She has not crossed the threshold to the Swan residence for a while, way too long. Sue would love to see her when she has time."

"I just thought, is Isabella Swan related to you? It would be weird to have unrelated people with the same surname here in Forks."

"Bells is my daughter, Edward. She is a bit older than you. She hasn't lived in Forks since she was three but you actually made mud pies with her back in the day when Carlisle had time to come fishing with me. Renee, my first wife, was Esme's friend."

Edward grinned. So their history went back even further than he knew.

"Jasper and Bella and Calista live next door to Ali and I," Edward told him.

Charlie raised an eyebrow and smiled back.

"Carlisle and I used to joke about you and Bells ending up marrying one another when you were little kids. You had this weird connection going between you. You used to finish one another's sentences and know what the other was thinking. Some of your conversations were so funny. You both just said the key words and nobody else knew what the heck you were talking about, but you both understood."

"I don't remember her," Edward answered.

"Well, you were not quite three when Renee took her away, I don't expect you would recall those days. The two of you used to wander along the beach while we fished and you were always holding hands, it was cute. I have photos, Renee used to love photographing you together, she said she was having one of the photos enlarged for at your wedding. But, things change. She took Bella away just days before your third birthday party. You were inconsolable for ages after, Carlisle stopped bringing you with him and Esme stayed home with you instead after my girls left me."

Edward wondered if Izzy had any memories about back then. She would have said so, surely, if she had.

"Well, thanks for your help Charlie. I will let you know if Tanya breaks the law, I kind of hope she does so something real can be done. Your granddaughter is quite the beauty," he added.

"Callie? She will be quite a handful I imagine when she is a teenager, Jasper will have his work cut out for him. I bet he changes his 'no guns in this house' stand when the boys start hanging around. Hopefully she will follow in her mother's footsteps and find herself a nice man and settle down. Bells never dated anyone before him, you know. Renee said Bella was far too picky, I think she was just waiting for the right man."

"Clever girl. At least she has no stalkers bothering her from her past." Edward stated.

"Yeah, sometimes you should just keep it in your pants, I bet you wish you had now," Charlie grinned.

"Absolutely. I had no idea what a flake Tanya was," Edward replied."She seemed quite normal when I first met her."

That was not the real truth, she had seemed willing when he met her and his introduction to sex with Izzy had left him wanting more, and this girl was keen to oblige. They had had their first encounter of the sexual kind against the wall outside the bar, she had demanded a free trial before she took him home and allowed him into her bed.

Edward had spent weeks dreaming very graphic dreams of that night with Izzy so he was ready, willing and very able to satisfy Tanya in that alley, and she had extended an invitation that led to a night full of hard core sex. He had felt a little dirty afterwards, it was so vastly different to his night with Izzy.

He could hardly tell the Chief it was his daughter that sent him into Tanya's bed.

"Tanya was so casual and almost disinterested when we were together; we broke up and suddenly I became the center of her universe. Strange woman." he mused.

"Sometimes what we can't have grows into an obsession. Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, Edward."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for reviews..**

The Secret

Chapter 3

The Night Of Clear Choice

"Okay, let's try that again. Watch my fingers carefully." Edward played the scale again and Calista copied it eagerly.

"Well done, you will be better than I am in no time. Try it again, keep playing it over and over and you will find it happens automatically soon." He was right, her long slim fingers suited the piano and her quick mind meant she caught on fast. It was a pleasure teaching such a fine student.

"We really appreciate this, Edward," Bella said from the arm chair across the room where she sat watching, coffee clasped in her hand. She liked the sight of the almost father and daughter together and fought down the feeling of regret that tried to emerge at such times. She wasn't his, simple biological fact. Get over it, Bella.

"Well, kids who enjoy music should be encouraged. She's a natural, I have taught before, it can be excruciating with kids with no natural ability. She has a good ear."

"Unlike her mother. I have no musical ability whatsoever. Jas plays guitar and drums but not piano, he says his Mom had him do lessons but it never clicked with him."

"I could teach you as well. Give Calista someone to practise with and compete against," he suggested.

Bella walked over and shrugged.

"Come on, sit beside her and copy what she does. It's like anything else, one new step at a time. Place your hands like this," he demonstrated but made sure no actual contact happened between them.

Much as he longed to feel that weird jolt they had surging between their bodies that night, he was being scrupulous about staying strictly friends with Bella and she was just a determined it would remain that way. He was aware of her all the time when they were near one another and she had sent him running for extra showertime on occasion once she left, but that was not cheating. He would not be some monster who played away behind his girl's back. It was just physical, he assured himself. He didn't love Izzy like he loved Alice, no, he didn't love Izzy at all, of course.

When Jas had asked him to teach Calista piano, he had meant to refuse, knowing it would mean hours more weekly with Izzy in his house, but then he reasoned, her child would always be there with them, there was no chance he would do anything inappropriate with a child in the room.

No, he would never do anything inappropriate anyway!

"Great job, that's it for now. Just remember to..."

"Practice, practice, practice," Calista answered him. Jaz had purchased an outstanding baby grand, he allowed nothing less than the best to furnish his house. His antiques were all real and authenticated and he had explained the provenance of each piece to a fascinated Alice. Edward had snuck out and left them to it, who cares where your furniture came from? His came from the display room of the nearest furniture store.

"Good girl. And you have to make sure Mommy does her practice as well. You can be the one in charge of practising."

"Come on chicken, we should go cook your Daddy some dinner," Bella said, taking the girl's hand in her own.

"And I should start cooking dinner for Ali, she will be late tonight. She is doing an extra shift at the hospital."

"Does she enjoy nursing?' Bella asked.

"Sure, she just wants to move on upwards and so she studies a lot, hoping to pass her next exams later this month."

"Jas said he often has lunch with her, they seem to get on well."

"We do too, that's good, right? I'm glad we are working things out, Izzy. I enjoy your company."

"And I enjoy yours Edward. It's weird, knowing you before yet knowing virtually nothing about you now. Did Charlie tell you the mud pie story? I have vague recollections of being at the beach with a small boy, but nothing much, just flashes. Something happened with another little boy and a seashell. I wish I could recall it more clearly. Maybe it was Jacob, I seem to think you two were fighting over something."

"You, probably," Edward laughed.

Jacob Black owned the best bar for dancing and socializing in Forks. Edward and Alice had gone there a lot, and although he and Jake had now talked about knowing one another back then, neither remembered anything. At least he had no memories of a little Bella either.

Jake had seen her at Charlie's wedding and been blown away by how beautiful she was, but Jas had been quick on his toes that night and had stolen her away from him.

If he hadn't, she would have been back in Forks after college no doubt, and Edward may have met her again before he met Alice.

He refused to think along those lines any further.

"Bye, see you tomorrow," Calista called and Bella waved and followed her daughter home.

Edward lay on his bed and decided things had to change. Alice was not making any effort to keep him sexually satisfied, it was excuse after excuse, he was getting to the point of almost preferring to be alone to pursue someone new if she didn't start putting more into this relationship.

It was nothing to do with Izzy he assured himself, he and Alice were just not working out how he had hoped and he didn't see that waiting the full five years was going to change anything.

He heard the door open and close as he placed their dinner on the table.

"Hi, how was your day?" Alice asked, kissing him as she passed by.

"Fine. My shift was deathly dull, not many inpatients and the outpatients were scarce. The piano lesson went well. Bella is learning as well now."

Alice sniffed the aroma of her dinner and smiled appreciatively.

"Smells awesome, you should be giving me cooking lessons."

"Just eat, then we are talking, Ali."

She pulled a face and ate her dinner in silence. Edward watched her eyes as she stared at him then looked away again.

"Done?" he asked as she lay her knife and fork down.

"Yes," she sighed.

"Come sit with me and have a glass of wine," he offered.

Alice trailed in reluctantly, knowing what was coming. She sat on the sofa beside him and waited.

"So, we had a deal and you don't seem to be making any effort at all any more. Just tell me, Ali, are we done? I would rather know now than have this so called relationship limp along for a few more weeks and end anyway."

"Edward, I am sorry. I just forget sometimes to make an effort. I can do better, I promise."

"But do you want to do better? It seems like this is too much effort for you. Just tell me the truth."

"The truth is, I want us to work and I am going to make a way better effort. I promise you that. Sex every night, whatever you want."

"I need a proper show of commitment from you. Can we become engaged?"

"No, Edward, not that again."

"Alice, you are avoiding commitment way too much, we will not end up like your parents unless you keep thinking we will, then it will be a self-fulfilled prophecy. I need something big, or we may as well call it quits right now."

"I will have a baby," Alice said, firmly.

"What? You said we had to get married and.."

"I changed my mind. I want us to be parents. We can start tonight."

Edward smiled.

"Thank you, Ali, all I want is to know you are as committed as I am. Are you sure this is a good time to be pregnant? What about work?"

"I expect we won't conceive instantly, I imagine I can do my exams before morning sickness takes over anyway. There never will be a perfect time, there will always be something in the way. I think we should just do it."

"Yes, baby, you have made me very happy," Edward smiled, putting his arms around her.

xx xxx xx xxx

"Do you think it will be a girl? I really like the idea of a daughter," Ali said, laying in Edward's arms after a long and active session that went into the early hours. She was past being tired now, all she could think of was maybe there was the beginning of a baby inside her already. How long did the Pill take to clear your system? She had only stopped taking them this week, sure Edward was getting to breaking point and needing something to offer to save them.

She was wrong, she had talked to Jasper for hours and he told her he loved Bella but there had never been earth shattering sex or magical moments, that was all fiction, written by women who had no man of their own, or maybe never even dated.

Love was not fireworks and unicorns, it was being there for one another, caring about your partner, wanting to be together. She had that with Edward, so now she knew that was all there was, it had to be enough.

She didn't want to lose him and she had the feeling had Bella Swan been free, she may have lost him to her already. She was not blind, she saw how each sensed the other's presence without looking, and the bond they shared without effort. Why was it like that between them, yet so much less between herself and Edward? She was sure they were only friends, there had never been anything to betray anything more was going on and Bella was openly in love with Jasper.

That was easy, Jasper was so easy to love, Alice thought.

xxx xx xxx

"So, a baby," Bella said, smiling over the coffee cup.

"Yeah, well, Edward and I need some way of tying us together tighter, I figure a baby will do that."

"Either that or pull you apart. Babies are hard work and they cry and keep you up all night and interfere with your sex life, believe me, Alice, a baby is not a quick fix for a failing relationship."

"Who says we are failing?" Alice asked with a scowl.

"Well, it sounds like a pretty drastic thing to do if the time isn't right and you are unsure about how you two are standing. It will be a big source of stress, they always are for the first few months. Jas and I barely survived and we both wanted the baby even though she was unplanned and we were doing pretty well together by the time she was born. The crying and never stepping outside the door, and never having a spare minute, it was like a miracle if I got to shower and wash my hair. I would never do it again unless we were rock solid."

"Is that why you haven't had any others yet? Don't you feel rock solid with Jasper?" Ali asked, interested now.

Bella blushed. She had long suspected she and Jas would only have lasted a year or two at most had they not been tied together by Calista and their joint desire to do what was best for her.

"Let's just say we have never gotten to the point where we are ready to increase the family yet. We may one day but it's not on the horizon at all . We are happy like we are, why rock the boat?"

Alice sighed.

Maybe she was making a big mistake but she could hardly rescind on the offer now. Edward was a changed man, so attentive and loving, so damned happy she wondered if he really wanted the child more than he wanted her. It had probably been the only thing she could have offered up to save them, she knew he had been close to wanting out.

Alice knew she had a good man and there were not many of those out there, she had always watched people, watched couples together, she'd seen the men whose eyes glazed over and minds drifted off while their girlfriends talked. She had seen the men who amused themselves bullying their girls, or played away behind their backs.

No, there were not many good men left out there.

Most of the best were taken.

At their age, some of their peers were being recycled, out of their first marriage and back on the market but if the first wife found him so unsatisfying, why would he be new and improved the second time round? Not to mention being compared. He had heard her mother moan for years about each new match, comparing them to her Dad, Alistair. If he was so perfect, Ali had wanted to shout at her, why the fuck did you leave him in the first place?

She had so many issues that accompanied her when she moved out of her mother's house, she wondered if she would ever see the glass half full.

Yes, Edward was a lovely man and a catch and she needed to get her head out of her ass before she lost him and spent the rest of her life seeking someone who didn't even exist.

Mr Perfect.

No such person.

xxx xx xxx

Edward lay back on the hammock and sipped his Coke and laughed as he watched Calista attempt to dive into his pool. She was clumsy and had no grace at all, and she ended up slapping the water with her body and shrieking as she came up for air.

"God, Cal, you are as graceful as your mother, you poor thing," Bella commented as she sat on the side of the pool with her feet in the water. It was too cold to swim really, but try convincing a nine year old of that.

Calista was very determined and when she decided to do something, she did it. She had been swimming for almost twenty minutes now and Bella knew she was done. She had proved her point, saved face, had a reasonably long swim despite knowing her mother was right, the water was too cold, and now common sense was prevailing.

Bella gathered up the towel and smiled as a shivering, goosefleshed child ran into her arms, blue appearing around her mouth and lips.

"I,I,I, lllliked thatt," she assured her mother.

"You are so funny. You would freeze into an ice cube before admitting you were wrong, wouldn't you?" Bella rubbed her arms and legs and the child shivered further.

"Give her to me," Edward suggested. His body temperature was always higher than normal, it was just something nobody could explain. It came in handy for warming up anyone cold, he smirked, wishing the mother had swum as well and needed his heat like the daughter did.

He sighed. Thank God he only thought these thoughts and didn't say them out loud.

Bella swapped towels and wrapped Calista in a dry one and then lay her beside him, and he put an arm around the little bundle and laughed as her teeth chattered more slowly and then stopped as his body heat warmed her little bones.

"Maybe your Mom should go make you a warm drink," he suggested.

Bella went inside his house and he heard voices next door and waited to see who was with Jas.

"I really should get home, Edward will be expecting me," he heard Alice say reluctantly.

"Both of you come over," he called, watching the fence. Sure enough both Jas and Alice's heads appeared.

"I have your frozen daughter here and Bella is inside making her a drink. Come over and we could make dinner together, we have pizza ingredients ready in the fridge and that blueberry cheesecake, don't we, Ali, or have you eaten it?" he asked.

Jas and Ali looked at one another and Edward frowned. Since when did his girl look to his neighbor for confirmation to do something?

He and Bella spent so much time and effort keeping themselves apart, were they missing the obvious? Were these two getting closer than they should be?

Jasper took Calista home to shower and change while the girls prepared pizzas and Edward carried out the first two to place in the stone pizza oven next to the grill.

His mind was going at a hundred miles an hour.

Alice quoted Jasper at every opportunity, every word that left his mouth was golden. She had started getting up earlier and taking an interest in the garden, working outside along the dividing fence so often now that strip of flowers was thicker and healthier than all the other gardens in the yard.

Jasper was giving her personal training in his gym, teaching her weights, and he knew she loved his house and it's decor, she never shut up about how stylish Jasper was.

Edward enjoyed working with him at the hospital but he would have suspected the man was gay had he not known better. Metrosexual, wasn't that the term? He spent as much time getting dressed as Ali did he had confessed to Edward one day when Edward caught him in the men's room despairing over ever getting his longish curly blond locks to sit and behave like he wanted them to.

Edward's hair was lucky if it ever saw a comb, he preferred the natural look of running his fingers through it as it dried, and settling for the resulting 'look' seeing it took little effort yet the nurses loved it.

Why bother with gels and mudd and smelly 'product' if you could get that reaction with just your fingers?

Jasper had then applied some concealer to cover some imagined blemish on his chin and Edward had needed to bite back a laugh. Cosmetics for men, what next? He started wondering if blond was Jasper's natural hair color, it would not surprise him if the man had his hair lightened.

Alice was laughing in the kitchen as Jasper explained the correct way to crumble cheese onto a pizza and Edward caught Bella watching them as well.

"They seem to enjoy one another's company," he commented.

"Yes," she replied, narrowing her eyes as she watched her man appear so much more relaxed and happy around their neighbor than he ever did around her.

Edward handed her a drink and she sat down near him as he reclaimed his spot on the double hammock. The movement rocked her and she grabbed on for support and he pulled her down beside him. The hammock calmed and they both laughed.

Their faces were almost touching, their bodies definitely were, Edward breathed out loudly as the connection between them fizzed and sparked.

"Holy fuck, I had forgotten about that," Bella said quietly.

Edward slid an arm under her shoulders and pulled her in closer and risked a single kiss on the top of her head.

"Why are we fighting this again, Izzy?" he sighed.

"Because we have loving and devoted partners and I have a child to consider," she replied, kissing his chin cheekily. She glanced at the house, both Jas and Alice had moved out of sight, so she gave into temptation and ran her fingers through that baby soft copper mess on his head and moaned slightly.

It took her straight back to the last time she had done that, while he pushed inside her from behind in his narrow twin bed of his youth, his hands on her breasts, tweaking her nipples and making her wetter.

Her thighs buzzed and she closed them tightly and felt her arousal burning like fire between her legs.

His hand moved down and rested on her mound, outside her clothing but his touch was like accelerant, making the flames burn and dance.

She rubbed against his hand and was shocked back to the present by the sound of her daughter's voice.

"Mommy, where is Daddy? I can't find him and Auntie Alice and I want a drink," she complained.

Bella sprang up as fast as the hammock allowed and took her daughter inside, hoping to God the child had not noticed anything amiss. She poured herself a glass of cold water and willed it to cool her ardor and fade the telltale blush from her cheeks.

"Were you cold? Was Uncle Edward warming you up?' Calista asked.

"Sure was," she breathed out and leaned her head against the cool exterior of the metal fridge.

xxx xx xxx

Jasper sat and watched Alice lift the weights and wondered what the heck would be the best thing to do, for all of them. The attraction between himself and Alice was keeping him awake into the early hours and pounding into Bella every night was not helping, rather it was fanning his flame.

They had always been a Hump Day couple, waiting until Wednesday nights to indulge in sex together, and then Sunday mornings were the only other time they really indulged.

Now his loins were always ablaze and he used his girl to quench the thirst but the image in his brain was never the girl in his bed. He knew he and Ali were sailing very close to dangerous waters and it would only be a matter of time before they sailed over the edge.

That evening after Calista swam in the pool had almost been the fatal final straw, he and Alice had both gotten so worked up as they brushed against one another in the kitchen, he had let things get out of control. He had pulled her into the laundry room and kissed her deeply and used his fingers to bring her to an amazingly quick climax then she had shocked him by falling to her knees and sucking him off.

Both had been shamefaced afterwards and had pledged to make sure nothing like that ever happened again.

They were not being fair to Edward and Bella whom they had watched exercise such massive self control keeping their friendship chaste and above board, never slipping like they had. The attraction was just as real between them, Jasper knew that. Bella's sleep talking told all, it was not his name that seeped from her lips as she writhed in bed at night, dreaming of what she no doubt wished was happening.

Alice had gone back on The Pill, scared to let anything interfere with this new situation. Also, she blushed for the first time in her life, she did not want a baby whose parentage was shrouded in mystery. She would have a baby when she knew for sure where her heart lay, not before.

It was time to confront them and admit how things were between them all and find solutions.

Jasper had taken his daughter to his parent's house for a sleepover. Tonight would be the night.

"Okay, Ali, it's time," he announced.

She dropped the weights and stood before him, shaking slightly.

"Are you sure?" she asked, touching his face with a single hand.

"Aren't you? We have to either call a halt or come up with a solution before we wreck everything. I think they will be just as relieved to have everything out in the open," he assured her.

"Edward, how about coming over and having a session in the hot tub?" Jasper said into his cellphone. He ran his other hand over Alice's head and face and smiled as she caught a finger with her teeth and bit it gently. "Oh, Alice is here already, come on in."

He flipped the phone shut and walked to the kitchen where Bella was baking up a storm.

She pulled the last tray from the oven and set the cookies on the rack to cool.

"What's up, Jas?" she asked, picking up on his tension.

"Come get in the hot tub, and relax," he asked her and she smirked.

"Hot tub sex?" she asked.

He had been insatiable lately.

"Who knows?" he sighed, making her frown. Something was up.

She washed her hands and dropped the cake pans into a sink to soak and followed him to the gazebo, pulling her cami off as she walked. She stopped in surprise when she saw Alice sitting in the tub already.

"Oh, shit, Jaz, you could have warned me I need a bathing suit, I nearly stripped naked in front of our neighbor," Bella scolded.

Jasper approached her and stood in front , holding her face in his hands.

"You don't need a suit," he assured her, undoing her zip and sliding her jeans down her legs.

Edward stopped short as he reached the doorway , bottle of wine and four glasses in hand.

Jas looked up as he caressed Bella's naked torso as Alice watched.

"Good man, that's just what the occasion needs."

**Okay, this is where you bail if you don't want to read what happens next. I think it's obvious enough...Updates when there's enough reviews to let me know enough people are reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

**You did see this is rated M, right? Go away if you are going to be offended, I think it's clear enough by now where this is going. Yes, swingers and swapsies. You have been warned.(I will die of boredom if I keep writing the same thing, this NEARLY ended up slash, be grateful I stopped short of that!) **

**REVIEW !**

**REVIEW with your approval or disapproval, I can always take the chapter down and have them swap partners over tea and scones!**

The Secret

Chapter 4

Friends and Complications

Bella stood there naked and smiled at Jaz and Alice held out a hand and Jasper climbed naked into the tub, his own jeans on the ground with Bella's. The tub was exactly square, so he sat on the side beside where Alice was, openly kissing her knuckles.

Bella turned and approached Edward, and reached up to undo the buttons on his shirt.

He looked wary and nervous and kept glancing at the two in the tub.

"Relax, it seems we were right about them," Bella whispered as she stripped the shirt away and started on his jeans. He was already hard and she eased the fabric down over the prominent bulge in his boxers, then they met the same Fate, tossed to the ground.

Edward helped her into the tub and all four sat, Bella looking at Jaz for the explanation or at least the rules. Edward poured the wine and handed out glasses and drained his own quickly, refilling it and draining it again.

Fuck, was this really happening?

He had always wanted to experience group sex but had never taken any steps to find willing participants. And here they were, right next door.

Jas pulled Bella to her feet and kissed her lips gently. She faced Edward and his eyes were riveted on hers as she and Jasper stood close and naked together.

"I do still love you , Bella," Jasper said, moving down her body and licking a nipple with his tongue. Bella blushed, she had never been an exhibitionist and was unsure why this public display was happening. Jas had his hand between her thighs and was stroking and opening her up, pushing his erection against her clit, along to her opening.

Edward held Bella's gaze and stroked his own erection as he watched them writhe together, and Jasper pushed himself inside her. Bella sat and opened her legs and Jasper jerked in and out, his head turned and his eyes on Alice as he fucked his own girlfriend.

Alice moved and took over Edward's stroking, and eased him inside her from the back so she could keep eye contact with Jasper as they fucked.

It was incredibly erotic and Edward soon exploded inside Ali and waited hopefully for the next step. He kissed Alice and whispered endearments into her ear. Somehow it seemed like Goodbye, even though nothing had been decided.

"You will always have a special place in my heart, Ali. We nearly made it, girl. If you ever need anything, you come to me and I will be there for you,I promise," he said, kissing her lips for maybe the last time.

Jasper finished and pulled himself from Bella and turned, his hands seeking Alice.

"It's obvious what is happening, and I just want to assure you both Alice and I have not gone past petting. We have not consummated anything. We both know you two want each other, and we desperately want to fuck together, so let's just cut to the chase. Bella, do I have your permission to make love to Alice? Of course I realize you will make love with Edward, and I am agreeing to that upfront now. What is your answer? We can just spend the evening drinking wine and talking, if you two prefer. Just say what you want. Be honest."

"Edward was my first lover," Bella replied, "and I have dreamed about being with him again ever since. We have not done anything yet, just sat around waiting to combust together from unfulfilled desire. If you agree to me spending tonight with Edward, then I agree to you being with Alice. Who goes to whose house?" she asked.

"You come to mine," Edward replied, pulling her from her lovers arms onto his lap and kissing her neck. Tasting her skin, feeling the buzz, he turned her and kissed her gently and sweetly, keeping his deeper desire and passion in check.

He wanted Bella to know he was already half in love with her and the want was the other part, this was not just lust from the sexual tension between them.

Alice took the cue and as Jasper sat down again, she straddled him, their lips locking and their hands stroking one another's backs. Jasper bucked in perfect rhythm as he entered her and withdrew, back and forth. Both sighed loudly with the relief that finally they could do this.

Bella reached down below the water level and sighed happily as she finally got to hold that monster between Edward's legs in her hand again.

It had been too long since they had known one another like this.

She moved her hand up and down and his fingers were instantly stroking along her slit, opening her folds, and pushing inside. She should be too shy and embarrassed to be doing this with Jasper only feet away but he was totally absorbed with Alice's body and the slight grunts and moans they emitted assured her he was not even watching her.

Edward gasped as he entered Bella at last, at long last, and he remembered doing this before, feeling the incredible softness of her skin, the tightness of her sex, the eagerness of her clit, they were old friends reunited. His mouth sought hers and his tongue pushed it's way inside her mouth and they tasted and battled and moaned as their bodies reached the peak and shuddered, Edward holding her backside pushing her closer still as the waves rocked between them.

Jasper paused for a minute and pulled back from Alice.

"This is not necessarily a permanent rearrangement, we all have to be sure what we want to do in the future, and we have to keep Calista's best interests in mind. This is us cashing in our 'free passes'. No recriminations, no confessions, just a night of pure passion and indulgence. Just do everything tonight that you have been fantasizing about, and tomorrow at breakfast we will discuss the next step.

Goodnight, have fun."

He helped Alice from the tub and they disappeared quickly upstairs.

Edward looked deeply into Bella's eyes. She smiled and stroked his face.

"Let's go home," he suggested, his fingers still working on her clit as she stood legs apart in front of him. He slid two fingers inside and palmed her gently but firmly.

"Just wait, one minute more," she gasped and he stroked faster, feeling her walls shake and pulse on his fingers.

"They already did this together," she said indignantly. "We controlled ourselves and all the time he was fingering Alice and having all sorts of fun no doubt while we resorted to cold showers and self relief. Unfair," she pouted.

Edward smiled and kissed her nipples.

"Come on, come home with me, time is wasting."

They held hands as they streaked naked to his side gate and through his yard.

He paused at the stairs, did they use the bed he and Alice slept in or should they go to the guestroom?

Bella pushed him up against the wall and grabbed his erection and straddled it, her legs around his waist, pushing him inside her again. He held her up against the wall and pushed in and out, throwing his head back with joy, this was so long coming. He could not get enough of her, how could one night be enough?

"Edward, Edward, Edward," she said over and over, pushing down and closer each time he thrust inside her.

He exploded and gasped her name and pulled her down into his arms as he finished spurting onto the carpet. They should be using condoms, what were they thinking? He had come deep inside her in the hot tub, that atmosphere was hardly sperm friendly, but from now on, they should be careful.

They both fell onto the guest bed and he kissed her and left for a minute to go get the rubbers from his bedroom. He felt Alice everywhere in that room, he and Bella had made the right choice going to the guest bedroom. Opening the drawer, he saw the round plastic container and he read the day. Ali was taking the Pill again. So, she had planned for this night with Jasper and was clearly saying it was not Edward she wanted to spend her life with, then.

He rushed back, Bella had the covers stripped off and lay on the pale sheets, her body open, her legs apart, waiting for him to resume his place inside her.

He pulled on a condom and covered it with lube, stroking himself to full hardness again, then plunged in deeply, pulling almost all the way out so his penis got the thrill of being in her from the very tip.

She was so eager, so responsive, it had to mean something.

Maybe she just liked sex, he realized but he didn't believe that was the reason. She loved sex with him, that was it.

His hips flexed and thrust and he noticed Bella was watching them reflected in the free standing mirror beside the bed. Nobody had ever slept in here, he had just placed the mirror there unthinkingly years ago, but it showed his naked backside as it bucked and his penis entered and withdrew and she bit her lower lip as she watched, her eyes on where they joined.

She was suddenly wetter, watching was turning her on further.

"Do you like what you see, baby?" he asked, biting down on her earlobe. He withdrew and let her see every inch of him and then slowly pushed his tip inside her, then thrust deeply in a single movement, causing her to gasp at the sudden filling.

"Do you like it rough?" he gasped and she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, Edward, Yes please," she groaned.

He stopped holding back and pounded inside hard and fast, feeling her tighten, hearing her breathing fasten, and her heart race as he ground against her swollen clit and pushed her over with him. He clasped her in tightly and lay beside her, sweetly kissing her face.

He went to the bathroom and rid himself of the latex gloved around his still hard cock.

"What do you want to do next?" he asked as he walked back to her and she blushed.

She moved slowly towards where he sat on the side on the bed, kissing him deeply, biting on his lower lip. She moved past him, walking onto the bed on her hands and knees, her backside high in the air.

His dick responded at the sight and he mounted her body without conscious thought and moaned as he hit the deepest depths inside her. His hand grasped her hip and he thrust for all he was worth, sliding a finger inside her other entrance, setting those nerves on fire as well , then spurting inside the moment her walls tightened and grabbed his erection.

"Feel that, God, Bella, feel me filling you up?" he whispered as he removed his finger and rocked slowly, letting them both enjoy the aftershocks. He pushed his cock in deeper and ground against her sensitive clit and felt her buck and spasm inside again.

Multiple orgasms, girls just had it lucky.

He fed her need to ride it out again and she finally stilled and wilted onto the bed, face down. Her ass was delectable, he caressed it and kissed one cheek.

"Do you allow visitors here?" he asked as he rubbed against her back opening. His finger had not fazed her at all, she must be used to that at least.

"Condom and lube and you must be gentle," she answered.

"Do you like it though? Or do you just do it to please Jasper?" he asked.

"I enjoy it if my clit gets plenty of attention," she answered, blushing madly. He grinned, she was so out of her comfort zone but keeping nothing back now they had crossed the line.

He knelt behind her and dried himself off on the sheet and opened another silver packet. He paused with a frown. Dammit, they had gone bareback that last time.

He slid the latex into place and lubed both his cock and her entrance and eased inside slowly. She was so tight he almost came instantly, so he paused, breathing in deeply and slowly, and kissed the smooth skin on her back.

His fingers sought her clit, and she pulled away a little, still sensitive so he touched as lightly as a feather and merely grazed his fingertips against her. She stilled and moaned a little, so he moved in deeper and withdrew again, slowly, keeping her interested with his hand.

He came quickly in the tight opening around his shaft and she shuddered in delight to his fingers touches, so he withdrew quickly while she was coming.

Alice had never agreed to using that orifice, he always felt like she did as little as possible to keep him but no more.

This was so different, so daring and free, so enjoyable with such a responsive partner.

He kissed her then went to the bathroom and ran a bath as he flushed the condom away.

Reaching amongst the bottles on the shelf at the end of the tub, he found bath oil made with strawberries and freesias. Alice hated it and had banished it to this seldom used room, so the scent was new and heady and would always remind him of Bella and this night.

He smiled, he had already been with Izzy, but now he had been with Bella as well. She had grown and changed and become even more beautiful than he remembered her. Her body was much the same, unmarked by the pregnancy.

He returned to the bed where she lay, and lifted her in a bridal hold and carried her to the bathroom, now filled with steam and the aroma of the flower oils.

Laying her in the water, he quickly sat behind her, pulling her on top of him, washing her gently. She cringed slightly as he cleaned her backside.

"Bella," he growled suddenly.

"Jasper never asked. I just wanted you to do it, to be my first again," she said.

No wonder she had been tight. He just hoped he had not injured her seeing she would end up his father's patient, he could no longer be her doctor. Hopefully Carlisle would assume it was Jasper who had sought to take her there, if the worst came to the worst.

"Did I hurt you? You should have told me," he admonished her.

"I quite liked it, I never imagined it could feel that good," she confessed. He hugged her closer.

Mine, mine first now mine again.

There was no way he could give her up now, Jas and Ali better have decided this would be a permanent swap because he knew which girl he wanted, deep inside his heart. Maybe he had always loved her a little, since Prom night. Their first experiences shared, her image always there in his brain, they should have stayed together from the very start.

He could have gone to NYU, it would not have been a big deal and he would have never worried about her being a year ahead of him.

Yale had been great but nothing like NYU would have been had he had her to come home to.

He changed the sheets and they lay together, him kissing her head and cheek and lips, her basking in the afterglow.

She felt so right, so natural, they were an obvious couple. Things would work out, Ali could live next door with Jasper, Calista could have bedrooms in both houses and sleep wherever she chose each night. Alice liked Jasper's house better anyway, and Bella preferred his.

It was clear and obvious and tomorrow they would start the exchange, packing up Ali's clothes and belongings, and taking them to their new home.

And Bella could bring everything she owned here.

"Are you going to come live with me?" he asked, making sure they were on the same page and that he wasn't deluding himself over some one off.

"I want to, we will have to work things out, Calista and such," she answered.

"We can turn this room into her new bedroom, or she can have the attic bedroom if she prefers," he replied, happy Bella was in agreement. "She can live in both houses, I would never take her away from her father," he added.

"I want us to have a baby together," she stated and he smiled and kissed her neck.

"When?" he asked.

"Now, let's do this now, I want to have your baby inside me. You have no idea how much I wished Callie had been started by you."

Edward looked surprised.

"Really? Would you have told me?" he asked.

"I would have contacted you and met up again and dated you enough to sense if you would rather know and keep us or have me raise her alone," she replied.

"I would have wanted you, both of you," he answered honestly. Imagine having been able to keep her. He had not known it was ever an option.

"When are you due to ovulate?" he asked, rubbing her mound gently. It started the fire again and she moved against his hand.

"Now, tonight, probably during that last orgasm, that would have triggered earthquakes," she answered.

"Pity I had my dick in the wrong place then," he smirked and slid inside the right place. They took it slow and easy and even kissed and talked while their bodies rocked together and reached the peak as one.

He repeated the performance several more times during the long, wonderful night and again in the morning, reminding her of their first morning together. She instantly became wet when he described how it had felt being inside her for the first time, how she had bled on him and made him feel part of her body, and he had ridden out the wonder of being in such a beautiful perfect girl. She was the girl of his dreams, now she was his future.

xxx xxx xxx

Alice and Jasper were sitting at the kitchen table when Edward and Bella finally showered together and came downstairs. Alice was flushed and smiling, Jasper couldn't keep his eyes or hands off her. Edward was glad Ali had found the right man for her now, and he sat and pulled Bella onto his knee and kissed her neck.

"Bella is moving in with me. Today. We will make a bedroom here for Calista but she can sleep in which ever house she wants each night unless one couple goes out. Ali, you agree? You want to live with Jasper?'

"Oh God Yes," she answered, reaching out a hand to him.

"This seems to easy. I know it's the obvious solution but how can this just happen so smoothly?" Edward pondered. He knew he would always have feelings for Alice but they were eclipsed by what he felt for Bella, to him this was by far the better couplings.

Jasper was as besotted with Ali as he was with Bella and God knows he and Ali had never had sex nearly as good as what happened in the hot tub last night.

Their sweet goodbye, their orgasms inspired by the other couple waiting to swap and taste and own them when they were done. It had been the perfect end. He had never been with two girls at once and saying Goodbye to Ali had felt right, almost as right as saying Hello again to Bella. He had felt no shame or self consciousness, he was perfectly at ease with both girls and now he had the one he really wanted.

And he had not broken Ali's heart to achieve his goal, and fulfil his wishes.

He had not cheated, they had all consented to swapping partners, life was just perfect.

xxx xx xxx

Alice knocked timidly, and Edward glanced up at her as she slid inside the door.

"Don't you want to come when Carlisle is on duty? I should not be your doctor, Alice," he warned.

"I think maybe you would prefer this visit stay between just us," she replied, sitting on the examination table, laying back and opening her legs.

"Ali! What are you doing?" he asked. Surely she didn't expect him to have sex with her, now they were all sorted and had settled in with their new arrangement.

"I need an internal exam," she answered.

Edward pulled on a pair of latex gloves and squirted lube onto his fingers.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Not so much hurt as pregnant," she replied.

Edward paused. So, she had not wanted his child despite their years together, but Jasper Whitlock got to impregnate her straight away, just as he had done to Izzy years ago.

Edward inserted his fingers and pushed on her abdomen with his other hand.

Her uterus was distended slightly, exactly right for the two months she had been living with Jasper. Ali was tiny everywhere, her uterus was no different.

"I think it's yours," she cried, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Edward removed his hands and stripped off the gloves, tossing them into the trash.

He washed up silently, panic filling his gut.

No, not now.

"I will do a scan, that will give us an accurate date," he replied, trying to keep his voice steady and not betray how very much he did not want this baby to be his.

It would not be the end of the world if it was, he told himself. They shared Calista, all co-parented and she was happy and accepting, this child would learn to be as well.

He spread the gel on her belly with the transducer and looked at the image on the screen.

Two months exactly.

Edward made a decision.

"It's right for dates," he said, "Looks quite solid, maybe a big strong boy," he added.

Alice Brandon's file sat in front of him.

Eight weeks pregnant, Edward wrote. He wished it was a month less so the father was obvious. This child had possibly been conceived in the spa when he had been inside her or when Jasper had taken his place. Either could be the one responsible.

"Alice, on second thoughts, it might be easier if I manage your pregnancy. Esme is still a little pissed about the partner swap, she counted on gaining you as her daughter, let's agree for me to look after you and leave Carlisle out of it. That way he won't get to glare disapprovingly at the baby you and Jasper are making."

He smiled and wiped the gel away and helped her sit up.

"It's really Jasper's?" she questioned.

"We have not been together for two months and you were on the Pill. It must have been conceived the moment the hormones left your body. I am going out on a limb here, but I never managed to impregnate you even when we first began and we got too carried away to wait until we got home to a bed and a condom. I think we can safely conclude this is Jasper Whitlock's child."

Alice smiled hopefully.

"Thank you Edward."

"Alice, let me assure you no other possible father is going to demand any rights if I have it wrong. You two want this baby, it's yours."

He handed her an appointment book and leaflets on good nutrition and a script for pregnancy vitamin supplements and kissed her cheek.

"Congratulations, Alice. Pass mine onto Jasper as well."

How ironic, pass on his best wishes, and maybe his unborn child.

The only baby he wanted was the one he would make with Bella.

xxx xx xxx

"Ali's pregnant!" Bella announced then she stopped at the sight of his face.

"You know," she accused.

"I did the exam and scan, of course I know."

"I thought that was illegal or something, doesn't she have to be Carlisle's patient, like I have to?" she pushed.

"You, my darling, are my girl, so you have to see another doctor. Ali is merely my neighbor now, she can see whomever she chooses. She chose me." He kissed his Bella's neck and felt her press her body against his. How come Ali conceived despite all the roadblocks yet Bella was still waiting? He badly wanted his child inside her, especially now.

"Come upstairs," he growled, biting her neck gently.

"Why, I seem to have forgotten to wear panties today, we can do it right here," she answered, as his hands explored and found her words to be accurate.

She twisted out of his grasp and faced the kitchen bench, leaning over it, offering herself to him.

He dropped his pants and shuffled across with them down at his ankles, and pushed inside her from the back, bucking in deeply, and holding her still once he came, keeping them together until his erection finally faded and slipped out.

He was about to spin her to face him when the outside door slid open and Calista stood on the other side of the breakfast bar.

"What are you doing?" she asked, approaching the bench and opening the cookie jar.

"Exercising, it's important to keep fit," Edward answered, reaching for his pants and hurriedly putting them back in place as Bella kept him hidden from her daughter.

"Are you sleeping here or at your Dad's?" Bella asked.

"Here, I am tired of hearing Alice throw up," she stated.

Bella smirked.

"Then sleeping here may be a problem also. I threw up this morning," she announced cheerily.

Edward grabbed her and held her back close against his chest, kissing her neck.

"So what we just did was superfluous?" he growled.

"Never, like you said, exercise is important. Do you have any ultra sensitive you know whats?"

Edward went upstairs and looked through his bag. One of the sticks inside was for testing IVF patients so showed a positive result earlier than most testkits. He took a quick shower and dressed in a tshirt and boxers and jeans and went downstairs.

He slipped the stick to Bella and she ran up the staircase as he started dinner cooking with Callie's help. She chatted excitedly about Alice's baby and Edward was happy it had not happened that first month for him and Bella. He had been relieved when she bled, even though she had been disappointed to have missed out. He needed to know any child she conceived was his, not either his or Jasper's.

Alice and Jasper seemed quite accepting that their baby was Jas's yet they must both know deep down the chances were pretty even. Who knows how effective the Pill had been, Alice had not even been on it a full month, it was probably completely useless.

That meant any time before they split up including the farewell could have started that baby. They needed to talk openly and honestly and come up with an agreement.

Bella danced downstairs and handed him the stick.

Two lines.

Pregnant.

They were expecting a baby of their own, and only one month behind Alice.

This was quite perfect. He kissed his Bella and hugged her jubilantly. Finally, a Baby Cullen was underway and Bella was going to be it's mother.

Life didn't get any better than that.

xxx xxx xxx

Bella served dinner and shooed Callie upstairs seeing she had eaten already with her little friend Mia who was sleeping over tonight. She had bought them a couple of new dvd's so the adults would be guaranteed some privacy.

"Bella and I are thrilled to tell you we too are expecting a baby but a whole month behind yours. Now, we need to talk about Alice's child. Chances are, it's yours, Jasper, but there is always the possibility is isn't. What do we intend doing? The decision is yours. To test or not to test for paternity after delivery?"

"We know this is Jasper's baby," Ali answered, frowning at Edward.

"Yes, this child is ours, 100%. No testing necessary, Edward," Jasper confirmed.

"Fine, then that's settled. We shall never raise the subject again, this will be Baby Whitlock, and this," he patted Bella gently," is Baby Cullen, so nothing to discuss. Wine or beer, Jas?"

The evening went well and after they left, Bella sat on Edward's knee and kissed his ear.

"Are you really okay, knowing that could be your son or daughter growing inside Ali? You will have no say in how it is raised, nothing, it will be theirs."

"No discussion, remember? This is our baby and I for one am glad it took the extra month so there's no doubt who her Daddy is. Ready for bed?" he asked.

She was always ready for bed, always ready to welcome him inside her, morning or night, or even during the night if they woke up for any reason. Usually because he was having such a realistic erotic dream, and he needed to release inside her.

The foursome in the hot tub was always there, he had never imagined he would have sex with two different girls in one night, let alone in front of one another. Whenever he thought about it or had it replay in his dreams, he had to have Bella again, and she now laughed when she felt him poking her in the back.

"Hot tub memories, Edward?" she would joke as he turned her to face him and impaled her.

"You have no idea, it's every man's dream to fuck two women like that but it rarely happens. I just didn't ever see it coming. I nearly ran when I walked into that gazebo, I thought 'fuck me, they have forgotten I am coming' and was equally torn by the desire to watch you two as by the knowledge I should sneak away before you saw me."

"How did you feel, watching Jasper fucking me in front of you?" she asked.

"I wanted to be him. I wanted to throw him out and take his place."

"It turned me on watching you inside Ali, I admit it. I was sitting there being fucked by Jas but you were the one making me come," she admitted.

"We can never do anything like that again," he cautioned her. "Now you are mine, I do not share, ever."

"God no, that was strictly a one off, I would never want any man inside me but you, Edward. Don't even go there. It was only good because it was the end of the old couples and the start of us. It was closure and new beginnings."

"It really was, wasn't it? Not your conventional farewell but really an awesome way to end and begin. I wonder what would have happened if Jas had not pushed to have us all do that? Would we have ended up cheating on them?"

"They would have cheated on us, that's for sure. We were being so much better behaved than they were," she said, kissing his lips.

"But how long would that have lasted, Bella? All I did was dream of you and walk around trying not to accidentally fall on top of you and impale you in the fall."

"That would have been interesting," she laughed. "I guess it's lucky we were not tested any longer because I know had Callie not come outside when she did that evening..."

"Yeah, that was getting too close for comfort. I think I was madly trying to think of a way to have you without anyone noticing the hammock was rocking. I was gone, she saved us."


	5. Chapter 5

**I know, it was obvious, but this isn't actually THE secret!**

The Secret

Chapter 5

Bella knew there would be a price to pay but it was entirely the opposite to what she had imagined. Callie had bonded with Edward as if she was his long lost child and the minute he stepped in the door after doing a shift, Calista would drop whatever she was doing and be there, throwing herself into his arms before Bella got the chance to do so herself.

Edward walked around with a self satisfied smirk on his lips, so happy the child adored him as much as the mother did.

Bella had expected all the "you are not my father, I don't have to do what you say" and the "I want my real father, I hate you," lines, so it was just different. Callie rarely ever slept next door, and when she did it was quite the production, she carried on like she was being manacled and dragged to a dungeon for a night and she was always back, sitting at their table when she and Edward came down for breakfast.

Jasper was hurt by her actions but he and Bella discussed things and decided they had brought this on themselves, and Callie may just as suddenly decide she wanted to live with her 'real Dad' so they came to an agreement to just go with whatever she wanted for now, without either letting their egos get in the way when they were not the favorite parent.

Bella had almost laughed, Edward was definitely the parent the girl favored of the three, she grabbed on to every word he uttered as if they were holy scriptures to be noted and obeyed.

"Are you going to Marry my Dad?" Callie asked one day as she sat impatiently in the kitchen, waiting for Edward's return. He rarely finished his shift exactly when the clock said it was over, there was always one more patient to see or a procedure not quite finished or a consult with Dr Carlisle to get before he took off his white coat and hung up his stethoscope for the day or night.

Callie knew that but it didn't stop her getting frustrated when Edward's ETA passed and he didn't appear.

"Why would I marry Jasper now, Callie? I live with Edward and I love him. Your Dad and I will always be friends but we will never get married. He will most likely marry Alice. Why did you even ask?"

"I didn't mean _Jasper," _Callie sighed, "I meant my new Dad, Edward. Are you going to marry Edward?"

"He hasn't asked me to," Bella replied, frowning. She supposed it was just a stage, the child was entranced by Edward and so she was temporarily favoring him over Jasper, and herself even, she reminded herself.

He was like the shiny new toy. It would pass.

"But _if _ Edward does ask you, you will say yes, right?" she pushed.

"Probably. I never really wanted to get married in the past, what your father and I had was enough, but it's different now. Yes, I would marry Edward if he asked me. This does NOT mean you are allowed to nag Edward , Callie, I want it to be his own idea. Do you understand that? Are you hoping to be my bridesmaid?" she asked, trying to figure out why her daughter was so keen.

"Then you would be Bella Cullen, right?" Callie asked, ignoring her words.

"Yes, that would follow. Would it bother you if I was named Cullen and you were Whitlock? You have never been bothered by my name being Swan."

Bella was confused, where was she going with this?

"Yes but if Edward is my new Dad, and you two got married, I could be Calista Cullen, couldn't I?"

Oh, so that was what was behind it.

Bella shrugged.

"I suppose you could call yourself whatever you wanted but please think of your father and think about how hurt he would be if you wanted to call yourself Cullen. You will always be Jasper's daughter."

"But now I am Edward's daughter as well, right?" the child persisted.

"Oh, in a way, I guess he is your stepfather," Bella answered, exasperated. Jasper would be cut to the quick if his own child changed her surname.

Edward walked in to find Bella frowning and Callie in his arms in an instant, hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek.

"Welcome home, Daddy. I made chocolate chip cookies for you, your favorites," she added with a smile.

"Well that's lovely, thank you Callie. Maybe we could invite Jasper and Alice in for afternoon tea seeing it's four o'clock? Why don't you go ask them?" he suggested, putting the child down and kissing Bella.

"I didn't make enough for them," Callie answered, her arms crossed.

"Callie, you made forty eight cookies, now do as Edward asked and go invite your dad and Alice to come in for coffee. Now."

The child stalked off huffily and Edward laughed.

"So, I am still her favorite father. It will pass, Bella. Don't waste your energy worrying about this, wait until she hates me and never wants to come over here, then we can worry. How was your day?"

He rubbed her still flat belly and imagined his child inside, maybe sleeping, maybe growing limbs, it would be incredible to be able to watch the whole process. Someday technology would be that good, of that he had no doubts. One day parents would see every change and development as it happened and know everything about their baby before it emerged into the world.

He was slightly concerned about the gender as he was unsure which would suit Callie better, a brother or a sister? Would she see a girl as a threat? Or would she resent a boy for being a Cullen, and his son and heir? He would be sure to keep his feelings for both children as equal as possible but this baby was his. Would it be possible to hide the fact he had never wanted anything as much as he wanted a child of his own?

Well, after wanting Bella to be his, that is.

He wondered how she would react when he pulled the velvet box out of his pocket this weekend? He had no clue. She obviously loved him as much as he loved her and she seemed 100% happy and excited, and their sex life was amazing, the pregnancy had not changed that.

But she had been with Jas all those years and never accepted any of his marriage proposals.

Jas had warned him not to ask unless he enjoyed disappointment, as Bella was just not the marrying kind.

Edward figured he could cope with her turning him down, so he had to ask, to try and see if she saw him as her husband.

Now the hurdle. He needed Callie to agree to staying with her father and Alice for the weekend, he wanted this occasion to be between only himself and Bella. Sure, it would affect Callie as well, but sometimes grown ups needed alone time and the big proposal scenario did not include a nine year old in the room.

Bella had made both a pot of coffee and a teapot of tea by the time the neighbors came in with a scowling Callie.

Alice looked wary and almost angry, Jasper just looked like his puppy had died as he clung to the reluctant child's hand.

"This is great, I have been hoping to sample some of my daughter's cookies for weeks, I really miss her baking skills," Jasper enthused.

Callie handed around the plate then sat herself firmly on Edward's knee. As usual. Jasper help out a hand and picked his daughter's left hand up and smiled at her.

"So clever. I hear you playing the piano every afternoon, you are coming along amazingly well, Callie. You can come play for us anytime you want," he added as his child made a show of reclaiming her hand to pick up her drink.

Left handed.

She was so right handed the glass almost spilt but she was determined to keep a hold on Edward and use the 'Jasper' hand to hold her glass.

Jasper smiled at Bella, who was frowning at their daughter's behavior.

He shook his head slightly at her, he didn't want Bella saying anything, it would only make matters worse. He could be an adult and wait out the honeymoon period where Edward was everything and he was nothing to her.

"So, I have a favor to ask of you all," Edward began. Callie smiled, waiting for him to ask anything, whatever it was she would do it for him.

"I want to take Bella away this weekend, so she and I can spend two days together as a couple, and recharge our batteries, so Callie, I hope you will be gracious and agree to staying next door? I will bring you home something nice. Will you please agree to doing this for me?" he asked, knowing the only way to pitch the sale was as her doing him a favor.

"Why can't I come?' she whined instantly.

"Because sometimes adults need a little time alone together. You will understand when you are older. We love spending time with you, but now and then, Bella and I will go away for a short break as a couple, Callie. It's what adults do," Edward stated firmly.

She pouted and Alice dropped her head into her hands.

Jasper rubbed his girl's shoulders and smiled at them all.

"That sounds like fun. We could go see about getting a pool built in our yard, would you like that, Callie?" he asked.

"Edward already has a pool," she pointed out needlessly. "I can always swim in it even if I have to stay at your house."

She made it sound like a jail sentence. Jasper refused to bite and started discussing whether to have a spa corner in the pool or whether to go with a long, narrow training style or maybe a beach pool with sand and rocks surrounding the edges, and a gradual incline from one edge like walking into the water on a beach.

Callie showed no sign of caring and Bella bit her lower lip and scowled at the child.

"Go upstairs and pack a few things to take to Alice and your father's house, and don't forget your toothbrush and pj's" she ordered.

Callie looked at her, as if about to refuse and changed her mind when she saw Edward looking pained and upset at her behaviour.

"Fine, I will stay with Alice and _Jasper_," she sighed dramatically but went upstairs.

Bella reached out and patted Jas's hand.

"She is being such a brat, I'm sorry, Jas. I don't know what she is thinking lately."

Jas smiled and rubbed Bella's knuckles.

"There had to be a price, I just never imagined it would be this one," he answered, putting a protective arm around Alice.

"Ali, this is not your fault. She will come around. We just need to get a way better pool than Edward's" he joked. Ali lay her head on his shoulder.

"I never meant to come between you and your daughter. She hates me now."

"Don't be silly, she just has a crush on Edward and everyone else has become less important at this moment. She will change her mind a dozen times before she leaves home for good, sometimes we will be her sanctuary from the wicked stepfather, sometimes she will prefer Edward and Bella. She is a child, therefore she has no sense of balance and fairness yet. We will be fine, we can wait her out."

Callie kissed Edward and air kissed her mother as she left in a sour mood to go nextdoor for the next two nights.

"Well, we should go make an early start so we have two full days together. Carlisle has promised I am not on call no matter what, I am not even taking my pager or phone. We have two days alone, Bella, and we will be enjoying them," he said, raising an eyebrow suggestively , trying to lighten her mood.

"You are right, one weekend will not kill her," Bella answered, putting her arms around Edward's neck and kissing him deeply, feeling the warmth begin.

He jerked her away.

"Nope, none of that until we get to our destination. I packed already, come on."

He held the door open and they headed for the car in the twilight of the dying day.

xxx xxx xxx

Callie watched the taillights disappear and she pondered on the unfairness of life. If she was eighteen, she would fight her mother for Edward, he was the perfect man in her childish eyes. She sighed, at least he could become her REAL father, she liked him way better than Jasper. _He _couldn't even play the piano, how lame was that? Every proper man could play piano and he wasn't even as tall as Edward, how come he hadn't grown those extra inches to be tall and stunning like Edward? He was 5 foot 9 inches, that was just lame. Edward was 6 foot 3 inches, much more manly and..tall.

Callie lay on the bed that used to be hers fulltime and sighed.

Edward was just so perfect.

She envied her mother, off doing grown up things with him.

xxx xxx xxx

Edward carried their bags inside the cabin then went back for Bella, almost asleep still. He scooped her up and carried her inside. The maid had done as he asked, and a full three course gourmet meal sat in the warming oven waiting to be served and eaten.

"Edward, this is gorgeous," Bella exclaimed, slipping from his arms and walking around the room. She loved the rugged exposed beams and unlined walls, it all looked rather Little House on The Prairie and she had always envied the girls having such a cute house in the reruns of that show.

Or maybe more like Johnny Depp's characters house in Secret Window. Now that house was absolutely perfect. She walked up the stairs into the open loft and sighed. The bed was large and inviting, the bathroom off it quaint but roomy, with a claw footed tub.

"I would have this all out in the bedroom area," she said as Edward walked up behind her.

"Really? Not a lot of privacy," he replied.

"Who needs privacy?" she answered.

"Come and eat, dinner is waiting," he replied and took her hand. They walked down the roughly hewn steps into the dining area of the kitchen and Edward served their food.

Roast meats, vegetables, side salads.

Bella ate and smiled at him, pleased he was making the effort to spend time away with just her, even though he was incurring the wrath of her daughter by doing this.

Before dessert, Edward carried their plates to the sink and turned back, sinking to one knee as he approached Bella. He knew the chances were slim but whatever, he had to try.

"Isabella Swan, would you do me the enormous honor of agreeing to become my wife? I promise to love you forever," he said in his most velvety voice, knowing she loved a touch of huskiness.

Bella's eyes widened and she grinned.

"Before I answer, you answer me honestly. Was this your idea or the idea of a small and somewhat annoying child ?" she asked.

Edward furrowed his brow.

"Calista?" She has no idea. I thought about telling her if she flat out refused to go home with Jasper, but I assure you, this is all my idea."

"Then yes, I would love to marry you, Edward," Bella replied.

He was stunned.

First proposal and she accepted, just like that? Jasper clearly had not been the man for her if she refused him every year when he asked her, on their anniversaries. He wondered briefly how this extra blow to Jasper's ego would hurt, then dismissed the others from his mind. He had his Bella and they would be returning home Sunday night as Mr and Mrs Edward Anthony Cullen. He had already arranged everything.

Edward scooped Bella up into his arms.

"No dessert?' she asked.

"Oh yes, there will be dessert. You are it," he answered running up the stairs and dropping her carefully onto the bed.

And it would be far more delectable than any food.

xxx xxx xxx

"Where is she now?" Alice asked crossly. Callie had been moody and mean spirited all last evening and now she had disappeared.

"I will go look next door. Again," Jas replied.

Jasper was exasperated. What should be a fun weekend had been one filled with tension and arguments as his daughter pushed their buttons and smiled as they exploded. He knew Edward had gained victory with Bella where he had failed and they were supposed to drive to The Meadow and take part in the wedding service he was springing on her today. Edward wanted all their family there, and they would have to start getting organised.

All annoyance fled his body as he saw the still figure lying beside the pool.

"Ali, call 911," he yelled and ran to her side.

Breathing, Thank God.

The gash on her forehead was streaming blood and he ripped his Tshirt off and folded it into a quick pad and held it firmly, not pulling it away to see if it stopped the flow. So many people did that and it just meant the wound would bleed anew. He pressed firmly and spoke loudly.

"Calista, open your eyes, speak to me. Callie, please."

Her eyelids fluttered.

"I want Daddy. I want Edward," she said out loud.

"Of course you do," Jasper sighed.

Ali was leading the paramedics through the side gate that adjoined the two yards and he stepped back when they took over.

"It's not as bad as it looks, a few stitches and she will be right as rain," the man told them.

"We will take her in, it's a quiet day," he grinned. It was usually a pretty quiet day in Forks, out of tourist season.

Callie scowled as the nurse cleaned the wound, then her whole demeanor changed as the doctor approached.

"Carlisle," she said excitedly.

"Miss Whitlock," he grinned as he looked at her forehead."We need to do maybe a dozen tiny stitches so there won't be a puckered scar. Nurse, bring me my tray."

Calie was as good as gold as Carlisle stitched and painted the wound with disinfectant.

He didn't think a course of antibiotics was warranted but he would be checking daily.

"So, you are not going to spoil the wedding, after all," he said as he tossed the dirty cottonballs into the waste container.

The nurse had drawn blood as a precaution and he signed the requisition forms for blood typing and anemia screening. She was a pale child but his own sons were pretty pale as was he and Esme. He shook his head, she may live with Edward but she was not of their blood, so why he had been thinking like that was silly.

He should be assessing the color of Jasper and Bella compared to their daughter.

Bella was pale, maybe even paler than Edward. Jasper was tanned, but the worry had paled his coloring at this moment.

"She is fine, right as rain. Maybe if we brush those bangs down straight instead of to the side, Edward and her Mom won't even realise."

He rushed the paperwork through and handed over to the locum.

"Come on folks, we have a surprise wedding to attend."

xxx xxx xxx

Bella looked at the gauze like fabric of the slim fitting dress with flaring hem that Edward had handed her and asked her to put on. It was so romantic, almost a Juliet style frock, so pretty and feminine. And it hid the tiny bulge she had developed overnight.

The fabric was the palest blue, almost white and the bodice was embroidered in palest pink, and a pink and blue satin sash went around the high waist.

She posed in front of the mirror and shook her head.

"I wonder if any other woman has ever been given an engagement dress?" she pondered out loud. The woman dressing her grinned.

"Mr Edward is a lovely man, very special," she replied.

"I know that, but hiring a photographer to take engagment photos here? It's a little over the top," Bella sighed happily. Whatever Edward wanted was fine with her but she had never heard of any couple doing it quite like this before.

Cars were arriving down the far lane, there must be some local event happening.

"Is there a fair or something on today?" she asked.

"Today is a very special day," the woman replied cryptically. Bella sat there and let her finish arranging her hair elaborately in curls and pinning a few up.

"This is over the top," Bella sighed. She liked her make up, she looked pretty and was only lightly covered but her lips shone dark pink and her eyes were hooded by smoky colors that made them shine.

A knock sounded on the door and she called out to Edward to come in. She was about to tall him how crazy this whole engagement scenario was when she paused in shock.

"Dad? Charlie? What the heck..."

"Take my arm and walk with me and just smile, Bella," her father advised.

Bella stepped carefully down each step, her shoes unfamiliar and a little higher in the heel than anything she had worn.

"Edward is such a drama queen, this is more like a wedding than..."

Bella stopped. The sight of every member of both the Swan and Cullen families and all their friends standing in the meadow next door, half on one side, half on the other, a long open walkway between, made her make the connection.

"It's a wedding, isn't it, Dad?" she asked, shocked.

Edward turned from where he stood at the front of the aisle and grinned madly. Beside him stood his brother Emmett then Jasper and on the other side, Alice and Rose grinned at her in matching rose colored frocks.

"I've been blind and stupid, haven't I?" Bella said quietly. Of course Edward would follow through quickly, before she changed her mind. What Edward wanted, he took and secured firmly.

Calista jumped about dressed in a junior bridesmaid frock, her hair shiny and newly trimmed, at Alice's side then she ran down towards Bella.

Her mother held her other hand out and took her daughters hand in her own.

Both smiled at Edward, as he stepped forward and took Bella onto his arm.

The vows were a blur, she repeated what the celebrant said and gasped at the beauty of the words Edward had written for the occasion.

"All I can say is, this is the happiest day of my life and I am with the man I will love forever," she said when it was her turn.

"And that is everything important, right there," Edward said, kissing her deeply, as though they were alone, not surrounded by everyone dear to them.

Their gold bands glistened in the sun and Bella grinned at her family and suddenly Renee was at her side.

"He has to be the most romantic man ever, he's Prince Charming and Romeo and, and,"

"Every girl's dream rolled into one," Bella finished for her.

He was perfect, wasn't he?

She looked at his beautiful face and coppery hair, almost tamed for the wedding, and smiled.

She was married to Edward Cullen!

She had spent a night in ecstasy because they were engaged, that had to be one of the shortest engagements ever, what, barely twelve hours?

Alice was so happy for her Bella wished Jasper would take the hint and follow through and marry the little Pixie soon.

Oh my God, it was true. Once you got married yourself you wanted all your friends to follow suit.

Rose and Emmett were rapt in one another, that was clear. Bella had a feeling this might be a great year for weddings.

Jasper came over and kissed her cheek.

"That was a shock. Who'd have thought Bella Swan would agree to become Mrs Edward Cullen so soon? Must be the right man for you."

"He is, Jas. I was happy with you, you know that, but meeting Edward again was like a tsunami, it just was far stronger and wilder and bigger than us, you know? I was helpless against the onslaught of love he made me feel. And I bet you are glad now, anyway. You have Ali and your baby."

"Yeah, we will be fine," Jasper said tightly.

Bella frowned.

"What's up Jas? You can always talk to me."

"You will find out anyway. Bella, Calista is not my daughter. I can only assume she is Edwards. Her blood type ruled me out."

"What? How? Why was.."

"She fell this morning and cut her head, it's fine. Carlisle stitched her up but he wanted her blood type on record in case something happened again and they didn't have time to be testing her. She has the wrong blood type to be mine. It's impossible. Her type indicates another biological father all together. I can only assume you told me the truth and Edward was the only other man you had been with?"

"I did tell you the truth. But I had a period after he and I..."

"She wasn't premature at all Bella, she was just small. She just had too many of her tiny mother's genes. She had no problems arriving a month early, remember. The doctors were surprised at how healthy she was. They kept expecting something, one small problem at least, but even her liver kicked in immediately. We should have suspected the truth. I bet the doctor did."

Bella thought back. Dr Curtis had been so friendly and helpful all through her pregnancy but he had turned rather cold after the delivery. She had assumed it was the way ob/gyn's were, interested while you were their patient then instantly finished once you delivered. Maybe he was upset over her lying about the paternity. She certainly had not meant to, she was convinced she was carrying Jasper's child. She cringed a little, she may have lied and said Jas was her first, just as a way of redeeming herself in the doctor's eyes. So, he had been disappointed in her, that was the reason he left so fast. He had offered her confidentiality and encouraged her to tell all, and she hadn't.

From her point of view, telling him about Edward had been pointless, a single night, it had meant something to her but she assumed it was unrelated to the pregnancy so she had wiped it from her mind and concentrated on trying to love the father of her child. She had succeeded but the love she felt for Jasper had been a single tree in the forest of love she felt for Edward .

She would tell Edward the truth tonight, when the guests had gone, but in particular, after Jasper left. Calista was going to be thrilled. The father she so desperately wanted was hers all along.


	6. Chapter 6

**I know a lot happens but I dont have what it takes to write 80 chapter stories!**

The Secret

Chapter 6

Bella knew the time was right, she had to speak up tonight, she had promised herself and according to the bedside clock, she had less than thirteen minutes of today left.

Edward had been determined tonight would be a proper honeymoon night and she finally had a minute to recover as he used the bathroom.

Edward, guess what? No, too glib. Edward, I didn't have any idea but... God, how stupid was she, a simple scan dating conception would have avoided the whole scenario. Edward, I'm sorry I robbed you of nine years with your firstborn. There was no way of softening the blow.

Edward returned and sat on his side of the bed, opening his bag and pulling out a small box.

He turned to Bella and kissed her.

"I have a wedding gift for you. I know it's unfair because you didn't even know to buy me something, but please accept this in the spirit it is given."

He handed her the box and she opened it and inside lay a heart shaped locket on a chain. She knew it would be expensive, real gold, and it was quite beautiful, although rather old fashioned.

"This belonged to my gran, she wore it with photos of my Mom and Mom's sister inside. It's engraved in French but the writing says "My Beloved Children". Esme wore it with our photos inside until Emm and I left home, it was always intended to go to whichever of us became a father first. I thought we could put the baby's photo inside when it's born and there's already a photo of Calista in it, I feel like she is my own already."

"I do have something for you, Edward," Bella replied. She took the locket and opened and handed it back to him.

"This locket already contains a photo of our firstborn."

Edward frowned and looked at Bella.

"I just said she is like my own. What do you mean?"

"She is not like your own, she is your own. I swear I had no idea, I assumed the period meant there was no chance she was yours. It wasn't slight spotting, it was the real deal. A normal period. When Dr Curtis asked me for the date of my last normal period, I gave him that date. Two weeks after I was with you. Now Calista had a blood test and it seems her blood type means it's impossible that Jasper is her father. Therefore, if it's not him, it's you. There have only ever been two men in my life that way, you first, Jasper second. Now you forever."

Edward held the locket and stared at the child's photo inside, like he had never seen it before.

"Calista is my child?" he repeated.

"Has to be."

"I have a child. I have a daughter. I think she knows already."

"No, Jas didn't tell her. Your father did the test so he knows she isn't Jaspers but unless he knows about us that first time..."

"He may well. Not a lot gets past Carlisle and he was wary the moment he met you after we moved in next door. I suspected he was just picking up vibes but maybe he knew somehow. Maybe that night we had was not as secret as I thought. They may have come home earlier , or maybe Carlisle did his usual run and saw you leaving. I don't know. Oh fuck, the security system, we would have been on the tape."

"Well, however he found out, I guess he wasn't too shocked then, about the blood thing. He didn't indicate he knew anything today."

"Carlisle would consider this my mess to clean up. Are we telling Callie together or does Jas intend telling her, or what?" Edward asked. He ran his fingertip over the small photo and smiled. His daughter. He kissed the image lightly and held the locket against his chest.

"You aren't mad?"

"I'm sorry I missed out on seeing her inside you, seeing you grow and expand and carry her but I was a kid, who knows, I may have run for the hills if I had known. It would have scared the living daylights out of me at seventeen. Despite my feelings for you, I still can't swear I would have stepped up and done the right thing."

"I guess we will never know now," Bella replied. How many seventeen year olds who had just changed their status from virgins had to step up anyway? Surely a single night was pretty unlikely, and so much for the old story a girl could not conceive her first time.

"We will work things out Bella. I am happy she is mine, really happy. I still can't wait for the next twenty weeks to pass and for us to meet our new baby but now it won't seem as long, seeing I will be seriously bonding with Calista in that period of time. Poor Jasper, is he coping?"

"I don't know. He looked kind of pale and shocked. I guess Callie's behavior at least has weaned him away from her a little already. I hope he and Ali don't sell the house and move away, I really want these babies to be besties. Grow up together."

"Fuck," Edward said suddenly and Bella knew what he was thinking immediately.

"I think we should ask Ali and Jas to have a DNA test after all once their baby arrives. Jas couldn't go through this fuckery again," Bella said.

Edward sighed, it had been all too easy, as he suspected. Suddenly, everything looked so much harder.

xxx xxx xxx

"Calista, please sit down, Daddy and I have to talk to you."

Callie had bounced around like a stray tennis ball on a downward hillside ever since they arrived home, earlier than planned. She had school the next day, they both felt she needed as many hours as possible to absorb and adapt.

"Your Mom and I knew each other about ten years ago, Callie and we fell in love with each other but we had to split up to go away to our colleges," Edward improvised. It was kind of the truth and more acceptable than the bare facts.

"Mommy didn't realize I had left you inside her, so when she met Jasper and they got together and then you were born, they both thought Jasper put you inside Mommy. Now Dr Carlisle did that blood test we all know the truth. I am really your father, Calista, not Jasper."

Callie sat still and grinned ear to ear.

"So, I wished upon a star and it came true! I am going to wish the new baby is a girl, and see if it works again!"

Edward smiled and held out his arms and Callie happily jumped inside them and put her arms around his hips and squeezed.

Edward was glad it had gone down that easily, now he had to go speak to Jasper and say...something. Thank him for keeping her alive when he was not there to protect her in the early years, maybe. He would have to find the words.

"Stay with Mommy while I go next door, please."

He heard them before he got close to the door. Jasper's voice was harsh and angry. Ali was begging and pleading and clearly crying.

"Please no Jasper, please don't. You said..."

"I know what I said but everything has changed now, Ali. I am not..."

Whatever he was not was not spoken as he caught sight of Edward.

"Is this a bad time? I can come back later," Edward offered.

"I think that would be best," Jasper said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, you alright Ali? You need me for anything?" Edward asked.

"I think you have fucked up our lives just about quite enough," Jasper hissed, so Edward turned to Ali.

"I'm fine, Jas would never hurt me, not physically," Alice said.

"Got your phone? Call me if you change your mind. If you need a place to stay, we are right next door," Edward said, glaring at Jasper. It seemed best to go, so he walked back through the side gate and sat beside the pool.

Callie came out and jumped into the water and Bella soon followed, dressed in just a sarong which she tossed away before stepping down the steps into the pool naked. She hated swimsuits at the best of times but refused to wear one at all when pregnant.

Edward didn't care, the more he saw of her gently curved belly, the better. And Callie seemed used to her mother being naked.

Bella floated on her back and stared at the sky.

Edward removed all but his boxers, out of respect to Callie, and walked into the water and stood beside his wife, holding her up. She was floating fine by herself but he needed to touch and protect her and the baby. He bent and kissed her belly gently.

"Do you want to know the gender?" Bella asked."Carlisle is insisting on a scan tomorrow. I was happy not knowing but if he knows, I will have to know," she said.

"What time is the scan?" Edward asked as Callie swam beside him and climbed onto his back, legs around his waist as she clung to him.

"It had better be a girl," Callie growled.

"Ten a.m. I think it's a boy," Bella said smiling. Imagine, a little Edward, copperhaired and green eyed. She had seen him time and again in her dreams. She tried to get him to tell her his name and he smiled and the name Eric appeared inside her brain. That was weird, Eric was not a name she would ever choose. She felt like she knew him already.

"I hope you will be happy to have a son because I know what the dreams mean, he is telling me he is on the way and he wants us to bond already," Bella finished.

"A son would be great, it's just that I missed out on all the pink frilly bit with Callie. I would kind of like a girl, if I got to choose," he answered.

"I never wore pink or frills," objected Callie.

"You did when you were tiny, you just refused to wear a dress once you turned two," Bella informed her. "If I tried to put one on you, you lay on the floor and kicked and screamed."

"So, you were always a brat," Edward laughed.

"I am not a brat, I am just strong willed, Alice said."

Bella was surprised Ali had defended the girl at all. She would have labeled her 100% brat if Callie was not her own flesh and blood, based on the behavior she had exhibited since the swap.

xxx xxx xxx

Carlisle smiled and kept the screen turned so only he could see the details. Bella and Edward had seen almost every inch of their child but Carlisle wanted to know first whether he was having a grandson or second granddaughter.. he had bet it was a girl, Esme had bet boy, so there was a night of passionate doings tonight, but what exactly and how, were at the hands of the winner of this wager.

Yes, he air pumped then tried to recover and look professional. He must buy some handcuffs on the way home, he had big plans for his wife. And maybe a blindfold?

"So?" Edward asked and Carlisle turned the screen and let his son see for himself. Edward grinned.

"I was right. Another little princess."

Carlisle wrote on Bella's file and looked up.

"Just one thing, she looks fine but your dates are wrong. She is four weeks ahead of what you estimated. Twenty four weeks."

"Fuck no," cried Edward, caught off balance.

"Bella had a period, a proper..." He stopped. It seemed one last period after conception was just something Bella did.

He grabbed his hair roughly and scragged his hands through it.

Bella looked upset at his reaction rather than at the news.

"Edward, it's our baby girl, just what you wanted."

"Is it Bella or is it Fate paying us back for Callie?" he asked her.

xxx xxx xxx

The next few months dragged or raced, it depended on who you were. Bella and Edward bonded closer each day and the possible problem with the baby inside seemed less important each week. Edward said out loud every morning, "This is my baby and I started her and I will raise her," insisting putting it out there in the universe would make it so.

Ali and Jas were drifting apart and Edward doubted they would be together by the birth of their son. He was sorry but he didn't understand Jasper, he had lost one child, why not accept this baby was his own and if blood tests proved otherwise, just never tell. Inform Carlisle or whoever they were seeing now, he had not seen Ali visit the prenatal clinic for months, that they used a donor or something. Surely Fate was not that cruel, anyway. It must be Jasper's baby because the little girl inside Bella was Edward's, regardless of any blood test. He would never disown her or tell anyone, including the couple next door, if the DNA test had unfavorable results. In fact, he would insist on just a blood test, it would be easier to convince himself the baby merely had an impossible blood type, some freaky happening science was yet to acknowledge.

xxx xxx xxx

Bella paced the floor and looked at her friend.

"Alice, this is crazy. You have a week to go, we both do, you don't see Edward dragging me off to visit distant relatives this close to delivery. Just say no, refuse to go."

"I have to do this for Jasper," Alice answered, sadly, rubbing her belly and her lower back.

"You keep doing that like every ten minutes. I think you are in labor. I'm calling Edward," Bella replied.

"Don't" ordered a voice at the door. Jasper walked in and grabbed Ali by the arm.

"We have to leave, now. Come on. Bye Bella, see you in a week. Water the indoor plants, please." He dropped a spare key on the table and left with Ali in tow.

Bella watched them drive away. She grabbed her phone and called Charlie at work.

"Dad, do me a favor and put up a roadblock and stop Jasper taking Ali to Seattle."

"What do you mean, Bells? Did he take her against her will?" he asked.

"No, but.."

"No? Then why would I stop them?"

"Ali is in labor, I know she is. She will have the baby tonight and be too far away for me to visit in a Seattle hospital."

"Sorry Bells but I cannot arrest people for not remaining conveniently placed for your liking. How's my number one granddaughter?"

"At school, thank God. She never sits still, I will be glad for the rest when your second granddaughter arrives. I shall ask Carlisle to keep me in for a month so I get some rest."

"Be careful what you wish for, Bella," her father warned.

"Oh gross and I just bought these shoes," Bella exclaimed.

"What happened?" Charlie asked anxiously.

"My water just broke all over my new sports shoes. They were on sale, 75% off, I knew it was too good to be true."

"Sit down and don't move, I am sending an ambulance and a police escort," Charlie promised.

Bella laughed.

"Or I could just call my husband to come get me," she suggested.

"Nope, you sit tight. We will be right there. I shall call Edward and make sure the hospital is on full alert."

The phone went dead and Bella walked gingerly to get her overnight bag and the baby's bag of going home clothing. Pink and frilly, all bought by Edward of course.

Charlie ushered the paramedics through the door and supervised as Bella walked to the ambulance, despite his insistence she should be on a gurney.

"Dad, I am in early labor, I should stay home and wait until I get a contraction or two," she exclaimed.

Edward rushed to a halt and parked his car half across the road and he ran up and grabbed his wife's hand.

"Are you okay? Any bleeding? Pain? Was the liquor amnii stained or clear?" he asked.

"If you mean the water, it was clear," she said, holding out one damp foot. Her white shoes were wet but unstained.

Edward had his stethoscope on her belly in a flash and he bent to listen to the baby's heartbeat.

"Do you need us, Dr Cullen, or will you be taking Mrs Cullen in yourself?" one of the men asked.

"I will take her but thanks for coming."

Bella kissed her father and Charlie promised to escort them with his siren blaring.

"No, how about you stay and look after Callie when she gets off the school bus. Stay the night, order pizza or reheat something from the fridge. Callie can use the microwave. We will call you once anything happens but it will be hours," Bella warned.

"Oh, of course, Callie. She will need me," he muttered happily.

"Actually I called Esme and she is bringing dinner over for you both unless you want to take Callie to their house? Esme is happy either way," Edward informed him.

"Well that's mighty nice of her, I think we will take her up on her offer to feed us at the Cullen house, then we can be with her when Carlisle gets back from the delivery."

"Hours Dad, days maybe," Bella reminded him. She suddenly grabbed her belly and bent over.

"Fuck!" she exclaimed.

"Or maybe sooner," her father commented , holding up his moblie, mouthing 'call me' to Edward , then he went inside to wait for the bus and it's precious cargo as they drove away.

xxx xxx xxx

"How much longer? Are we there yet?" Bella asked, woozy from the drugs but very glad Carlisle had been so generous with them all the same.

"Fully effaced, fully dilated," Edward announced.

Carlisle allowed him to participate in the birth, why not, he was a doctor, and did this more often than his father nowadays.

"Push Bella," they encouraged and she pushed long and hard and Edward gave his father the thumbs up.

"Good job, crowning. Another good push, my love," he said happily.

The baby's head emerged and Edward cleaned the airways and checked for the cord around her neck. All clear.

"Big push and it will be over," he promised.

Bella sat up and pushed as Carlisle supported her, and she screamed as the burning hit.

"And it is a girl, my father and I can both take an A+ in reading scans."

The baby screamed as loudly as the mother had, and Edward lay her on his wife's empty belly and cut the cord as Carlisle pushed him aside and took over.

"Go give your daughter to your wife, I will deliver the placenta. Well done, both of you, she sounds healthy!" he exclaimed.

Edward carefully picked the slippery red child up and the nurse wrapped her and handed her back.

"Look Bella, green eyes, copper hair," he said with relief as he wiped her with a towel the nurse had warmed. The baby had a mass of coppery curls, so unlike Bella or Jasper's hair there was no doubt who the Baby Daddy was.

His long fingers, Bella's small face, her short stature.

"Six pounds four ounces" announced the nurse as she weighed and assessed the newborn.

"I give her a 9.5, Doctors." she announced.

"Excellent, two 9's," Carlisle said happily.

"Welcome baby daughter," Edward said with undeniable pure joy.

xxx xxx xxx

Baby Cullen GIRL read the crib tag.

"She needs a name," Edward said to Bella as his wife climbed into bed, freshly showered and dressed.

"Carlie, after both grand dads," Bella suggested.

"Esme-Renee after the grandma's" Edward replied.

"Renee-Esme sounds better, Renesmee," Bella suggested.

"Or something just for her, not after anyone," Edward offered. "Something kind of similar to her sister."

"Calista... Melissa? Larissa? " Bella listed off the top of her head.

"I know, Calindy!" Edward said excitedly. "I saw it in a telly movie. It's almost unique, like she is."

"Calindy Cullen. I guess I can live with that," Bella replied. Edward found it almost impossible to leave the baby in the perspex bassinette, he wanted to hold her and let her feel his love for her.

"Knock knock" said a voice at the door. Carlisle, Charlie, Esme and Calista all stood there, waiting, hopeful, impatient.

"I know we should wait until tomorrow but can we have just a peek?" Esme asked.

"Come in, I am fine, just a little battered and bruised," Bella said.

"Oh, look at her. Edward, she looks so like your newborn hospital photos," Esme exclaimed.

"No, she looks like Bella, except for the hair and the green eyes. God, how can a baby have green eyes already?" Charlie asked.

"It happens, especially when a parent has such distinctive colored eyes," Carlisle answered.

"What's my little sister's name?" asked Callie.

"Calindy Isabella Cullen," Edward replied.

"Oh, I like that, I'm Calista Maree Cullen now, aren't I Dad?" Callie checked.

"You sure are, number one daughter," Edward replied.

Esme cradled the infant in her arms and sighed happily.

"So good to have grand daughters after having only boys myself," she said.

"So, did you beat Alice? Have you heard from her yet?" Charlie asked.

Carlisle caught his son's eye and nodded slightly towards the door.

"I have been kind of busy, dad. There will be a message on the phone if she had her baby already, I'm sure" Bella answered.

"What does Calindy weigh?" Esme asked and Edward walked outside, holding up his cellphone as if about to make a call.

Carlisle turned.

"Oh Edward, a word about this week's roster.."

The two men walked into the hall and a little distance from the room.

"What's happened?" Edward asked.

"I got a call from Jasper. It's bad news, Edward. I wasn't sure if I should tell you in front of Bella."

"Is Ali okay?" Edward asked, worried.

"Alice is fine, physically. She lost the baby. He was stillborn. In Seattle. She had transferred to a ob/gyn there months ago, I have no idea why. Everything seemed fine, the baby looked good up until she chose to change doctors. Jasper said the placenta had parted and Ali had some bleeding and by the time the baby was born, he was dead."

"They did a c section, of course," Edward said.

Carlisle scratched his head.

"That's the thing. Jasper said Alice delivered him naturally, that it was too late for a Cesarean. I can only conclude the doctor knew the child was dead already and decided there was no point doing the operation. If there was any chance of saving it, he would have done so, surely."

"Fuck, I so do not want to tell Bella and have this ruining everything. Keep her in as long as you can and I will deny having heard any news from them, it's not a lie seeing Jasper called you, not me. What should I do? I feel bad calling Jas and having to tell him our baby is here and fine and healthy. What should I say?"

"Jas asked that nobody call, they will return home eventually but he said they wanted time alone to come to terms. I think we should honor that. Maybe not tell Esme or anyone else yet until you tell Bella. I don't want her picking anything up from anyone who knows. We shall forget all about the call for now. Agreed?"

"Agreed, we must put Bella first no matter what," Edward declared.

Rose and Emmett were coming towards them down the hallway. Emmett was obscured behind a massive bunch of flowers and Rose had a teddy bear and a pink frock in a tiny size in her hand.

"Hi, come to see the world's most beautiful baby?" Edward asked, leading them into Bella's room.

xxx xxx xxx

Bella checked the home phone the minute she walked through the door.

"Nothing, no messages. They must have had the baby by now, Edward. can't you look her up on the hospital computer or something?"

"Only babies born at Forks are on that," he replied. It was probably time to tell her. Calindy was six days old, Bella had established breastfeeding, the baby was gaining weight, the mother feeling a whole lot better, close to normal again.

"Bella, let me put Calindy in her crib then we need to talk."

Bella was sipping a cup of tea when he returned. Edward sat and picked up the coffee she had made him.

"Bella, not all babies make it, you know. Sometimes sadly, things go wrong."

"Is something wrong with Calindy?" she asked.

"No, no, she is perfect. Alice lost her baby. He was stillborn."

Bella placed the cup on the table and lay her head in her hands, sobbing loudly.

Edward felt helpless, but he put his arm around her and kissed her head.

"It will be okay, Bella. They can try again in time," he assured her, not knowing actually if there was any reason that could never happen. If Ali had an infection...or if the problem was actually genetic... neither he nor Carlisle knew enough about the birth to assess the probable cause of death... so many possibilities but his wife was his concern for now.

"I can't believe life can be so cruel. Jasper already lost his daughter, now he has lost his son as well? Why, Edward? Why is Jasper paying and we aren't? Why has everything gone our way?"

"I can't answer that, my love. Life is random, none of us committed any crimes, we merely realised we loved someone else more than our then current partners. I'm sure this is the end of bad luck for them and from now on the universe will even up and give them some good luck and happy times again."

Edward could tell whenever Bella was thinking about her former lover and Ali, because her joy and happiness would suddenly disappear and silent tears would streak down her face as she hugged him or one of the children tighter.

He was sorry Ali was suffering but on the other hand, he could not have borne such horror happening to his Bella, so he coped by being grateful at least it was not them. Selfish maybe but Bella was the center of his world and her pain was his pain. He never wanted her to suffer and seeing her go quiet and introspective at these times always felt like a small knife being inserted slowly and painfully into his heart.

He did his best to keep her on an even keel and they enjoyed the new baby and their older daughter 99% of the time, the blues just seeped in now and then.

It lessened as time passed, and six months after Calindy's birth, Bella was sitting staring out her window at the sad and empty house next door when Jas's car pulled up in front of it.

"Jasper! Alice!" she whispered and put Lindy onto her hip and raced outside.

Jas alone stood there but he smiled and welcomed her into his arms and kissed her cheek.

"Hey Bella, you look good, girl. And this is the new one. Hey, Calindy."

"You know her name?" Bella asked. They had not spoken or had any word from him or Ali since their baby's birth.

"I have been travelling around a bit, I ran into your Mom at a baseball game in Florida, she was hoping Phil would get called in off the bench so we sat and chatted and she brought me up to date."

He opened the trunk of his car and retrieved a box and handed it to her.

Bella was surprised when he put his arms out to Calindy and the baby luckily leaned forward and let him take her.

Calista would be home any minute, Bella had been watching for the school bus, and she hoped the lectures she had given the girl about how sad Jasper was now had changed her attitude.

"How's Ali? Are you still together?" Bella had to ask, before her older child got home and asked anyway.

"Alice is having a rest in a hospital, the whole experience was more than she could cope with. We limped along at first but the sight of a pram or the sound of a baby crying, it just set her off and she was on so many tablets and sedatives and stuff, it got to the stage it was safer for her to be committed."

Bella cringed.

"She is getting better, Bella, the doctor's think she could be released in another six months time."

"Can I visit her?" she asked.

"No. It's better this way, just give her space and time, one day we will come home again."

Jasper sat at the kitchen table while Bella made coffee and he sat the baby in front of him on the table, playing patacake and then curling her copper locks around his finger. She had a surprising mop of ringlets, unusual in a baby her age and nobody could ever resist playing with them.

"I can see you in her but she is mainly Edward," Jasper said quietly.

"Well I think the jade eyes instantly make them similar, once you look at her features individually, she is more me than him, I think anyway. It's just that she has his coloring and two most outstanding features. The hair and the eyes, her size and her face are mine."

"You are right," Jas answered, considering her words.

Bella took Calindy from him and placed her in her playpen so they could talk without distractions.

"I'm truly sorry for what happened to you both and losing your baby..."

A tear escaped and she impatiently wiped it away. This was his pain and she was not stealing it from him.

"It was for the best," Jasper whispered, looking intensely into her eyes. "Despite what Ali is suffering, it was the best outcome."

Bella knew then, in that instance and she stopped trying to hold in her tears. Her daughters had lost a brother. It was Edward's son who had died.

Calista burst in with her usual energy and squealed with joy at the sight of her former father figure.

"Daddy! Daddy Jasper!" she exclaimed, dropping her backpack onto the floor and bouncing into his arms.

"Callie, my God, my baby girl, Callie!" Jas babbled, holding her tightly and kissing her head.

"I missed you. Where is Alice?" she asked, looking about.

"Ali is having a little rest, she will come home soon. So, you have grown about ten foot and you look older, what are you now, 15, 16?" he joked.

"Ten and a half," she corrected. "Do I really look like a teenager?" she asked hopefully.

Bella frowned and Jasper laughed. It sounded strange, especially to his ears, he had not laughed in forever. He couldn't even remember last time he laughed.

"Are you going to live beside us again? I promise to be good and come stay sometimes and not be a brat," Calista promised. "I miss you so much. You are still my other Dad, right?"

"Right," Jasper said, his face lighting up and the black cloud lifting a little.

"You were my first Daddy and I love you still. I'm sorry for being so bad and nasty and I am sorry your little baby died, Daddy. I wanted to see him and play with him and Calindy."

Jasper's eyes teared up and he pushed the still unopened gift he had given Bella towards her.

"I brought you a present," he said, his voice rough and scratchy.

"Can I open it, Mom?" she asked excitedly.

"Of course, go ahead," Bella answered. She knew Jas needed a second so she gently took her daughter's arm.

"Go wash your hands, there are so many germs on buses, go wash up, then your gift won't get grubby."

Calista disappeared and Jas walked to the back door and looked outside until he could compose himself again.

Bella chatted inanely, refilling coffee mugs, pulling out sandwich makings and preparing her daughter's after school meal. A snack never satisfied this child and hopefully Jasper would eat as well, he was way too thin.

Calista returned, talking ten to the dozen and sat down, carefully peeling the paper away from the box. Inside sat two identical pink fluffy bears, one in just a fabric diaper and bib, the other dressed ornately. She had a tutu on, with a bejewelled bolero top, several strings of pearls around her neck, and ballet pumps on her feet.

"This one is mine and this one is for Lindy?" she checked. "I love it, thank you Daddy Jas."

Jas smiled and nodded. Words were beyond him still but he managed not to cry. Callie took the baby bear and sat it where her sister could see it.

"That's from our Daddy Jasper, you will love him, he is lots of fun," she told her sister.

Bella served the plates of sandwiches and cake.

All three ate as Calista babbled childishly. Jas seemed to recover as Callie told them about her day, every slight incident a full blown drama, demonstrated with actions as well as words.

Bella took the wrappings and box and noticed a small wrapped package still inside.

"That's for you," Jasper said.

Bella smiled and opened it carefully. Inside a box sat a gold chain charm bracelet. There were charms in place already. A tiny grand piano, obviously Edward, two small flat hearts, one with 'Calista' and her birthdate, one with 'Calindy' and hers, a rose which she assumed was her, she looked at Jas when the next charm was an elephant.

"The rose is my hope you will have a life filled with beauty. Elephant charms mean I hope you have a life blessed with cherished memories, and I hope some of them came from me," he explained.

"They did, Jasper, I have so many happy memories of our life together. Raising Callie, all our anniversaries, all our birthdays and Christmases and Valetine's days, they were all extra special thanks to you. We would have made it had we never come here. Neither of us had experienced the kind of love Alice invoked in you and Edward in me. We were happy, Jas.

I will never forget that you love me and I love you. We will always be close."

Jasper clasped her hand in his and held it tightly. His head was bowed and Bella knew he was grasping onto to any piece of happiness he could dig up from their past. God knows there was little in his life now. She understood, he didn't want her back, he just needed to remember, to have happier times in his head as well as the darkness or it would take over completely.

A shamrock and a star completed the charms and Bella knew they meant good luck and the hope your dreams come true.

She removed the star and attached it to his watch.

"Here's hoping all your dreams come true, Jas," she whispered.

xxx xxx xxx

Edward arrived home soon after and he and Jas did that awkward man hug thing and sat outside by the newly fenced pool while Callie swam and called for their attention. Bella served cold drinks and invited Jas to stay for dinner. He agreed, smiling and touching her hand. Edward did not even bristle, he knew Jasper was seeking warmth and friendship, nothing more. Bella was so familiar to him, she was his past, his happiness, no wonder he had come back to be near her again. If she could help heal his broken heart, Edward was all for it. He trusted Bella and knew she would never cross the line between friendship and something more.

Jas shut him down when he tried to ask details about the doomed birth so Edward let it go. He figured Jas would tell him all one day if he wanted to, and anyway, telling him the doctor may not have done the right thing was never going to help.

They talked until after dark, after Bella had bathed the girls and dressed them for bed. She fed them and tucked the baby into her crib and went downstairs to make side dishes for the steak the men were grilling outside.

Jasper slowly started to revert to the Jasper they knew and loved and remembered. He seemed to loosen up a bit and Callie being by his side, choosing his knee to perch on, and playing the piano after dinner for him, seemed to help.

She could be such a wonderful child when she chose to be, Bella knew, and luckily she sensed her other father's pain and wanted to bring him whatever comfort she could.

Bella clasped the bracelet around her wrist and swore she would wear it every day from now on, if it made Jasper even slightly happy.

Edward admired it as they lay in bed that night. He reached into his drawer and held up a crystal heart shaped stone.

"Can I have one thing representing my love for you as well?" he asked. "It's fine if you would rather not have it on there."

Bella smiled and kissed him.

"I always want love tokens about us, my love."

He attached the heart and Bella lay in his arms.

"Edward, I am pretty sure the baby boy was yours. Jasper pretty much said it was best he died. I don't think he had it in him to raise another cuckoo in his nest, especially another one of yours."

Bella lay there, holding him in the dark, feeling his body shake as he cried silently for his lost son.


	7. Chapter 7

**Am loving all your guesses as to what is the secret! Cheers for reviews, Edward loves reviewers. He wants to 'kiss' each and everyone who leaves one. This is shorter, just a short chapter so you stop hating Jasper!**

The Secret

Chapter 6

The tension between her men seemed to rise and abate but at least they never came to blows, Bella comforted herself. Edward was frustrated because he wanted to see Ali was alright for himself and being a doctor, and her ex partner, he felt he had every right to visit her. He knew better than to mention her baby unless she raised the subject, he did have an excellent bedside manner after all. Jasper was annoyed that Edward felt he still had a place in Alice's life, despite the destruction he had unintentionally brought about. They were all at fault that night, they acted recklessly and someone had to pay.

Bella knew they would blow up one day and she just hoped the girls would be safely inside when it happened.

Edward would ask her to stop wearing the bracelet sometimes, when things were tense, other times he would be full of apologies and assure her she was fully within her rights to tell him to shut the fuck up, and wear it whenever she chose to.

It was a small thing, but Bella knew Jasper took some measure of comfort seeing it on her wrist. But then Edward was her husband...

Edward came home one evening and handed her a tiny box.

"I'm sorry, Bella, I know I have been an ass lately. It's just...a lot of things. I am so worried about Alice, if she is hospitalized and in good hands why can't I see her? I am so worried he did something to her, Bella."

Bella bristled. She lay the box unopened on the table.

"Jasper would never hurt a single hair on her head! He loves her, Edward, don't be so ridiculous. Never say anything like that again!"

"Why has nobody heard from her, is she in a coma? Is she locked up against her will? Did he kick her out once the baby..."

Bella knew it was as much about the baby as it was about Ali. He was sad and sorry and frustrated that they hadn't told him or at least let him be there at the delivery. He would never know what his own son looked like. He wanted to have been there for Alice, to grieve with her, to hold him just the once, to share the pain together as only the parents could.

She opened the box when he went upstairs and added the tiny angel charm with green stone eyes to her bracelet.

Bella couldn't find herself able to judge him harshly for twhat he was feeling, if she had a child carried by some other woman she would want to see it, dead or alive. She knew he felt robbed, cheated, he had no closure.

While Edward worked his shift, she asked Jasper if the hospital had ever taken a photo of the baby and Jasper reluctantly opened his wallet and handed her a small photo of a baby wrapped in a blue blanket.

"Was he.." she asked, looking at the little face. So pale, so very pale, almost bluish. The hair was there, abundant and reddish, the eyes mercifully closed but the baby's face was so similar to their own Calindy, she shuddered.

"He was, near enough."

"So, not actually born dead?" she asked.

"He didn't live long enough so he was classified as stillborn," Jasper said gruffly. "He didn't cry, didn't move, didn't open his eyes, is that what you want to hear?"

Bella cried silently and Jasper held her hand.

"Sorry, Bella, it was not your fault, it was nothing you did."

"Did he have a name?" she asked.

"Eric, after Alice's father," he almost whispered.

Bella froze. She knew Eric. She had communicated with him before his delivery. She alone had seen his green eyes and seen him smile. It didn't seem right or fair.

"Can I get this copied, for Edward, please Jas. He needs something. He isn't coping so well."

"Ah Bella, what a fucked life we have led. I am glad you at least escaped the worst of it."

Bella took the photo into the study and scanned it and set the printer to print four copies and an enlargement, then handed it back to Jasper.

"I'm keeping this for Alice, in case she ever wants to see it," he told her.

"I couldn't raise another child of Edward's, it would have finished us," he said sadly.

xxx

Bella framed the enlargement and that night when the girls were tucked up asleep, she handed the picture to Edward. She had adjusted the color so he merely looked very white. His red hair leapt from the picture in contrast.

"Alice named him Eric. He was briefly alive, sort of, but he died quickly."

Edward stared at the photo for a long time then added it to the bedside table display of his daughter's hospital photos. It fitted in just right, somehow. Bella felt no pang of envy, nothing. She still loved Jasper in her own way, and Alice as well. This was a loss for all of them.

She knew both Edward and Jasper needed another child, hopefully a son each.

"Edward, do you think we will ever have another baby?" she asked in the morning after he had finally had a restful nights sleep.

"I want to, my Love, I want more than anything," he answered, holding her close and resting his forehead on hers.

"I'm ready whenever you are," she told him, meaning it sincerely. Calindy was nine months old, it would be fun having two little ones together.

Edward peeled down her nightdress and kissed her deeply.

xxx

Bella watched Jasper drive up and her heart skipped a beat.

Alice!

She was outside, door ripped open, feet running on the soft grass beneath them, until the tiny pixie was in her arms.

"Bella, I missed you so much," Alice said.

"Careful of her Bella, she has precious cargo," Jasper smiled and warned.

Bella stood back in shock.

"You are pregnant? Wow, how did that happen? Did they allow conjugal visits?"

"Nothing stops Jasper doing whatever he decides is the best thing," Ali replied.

She was tinier than ever, so pale, so thin, so breakable.

Edward walked out from the garage, wondering what was going on.

"Alice, Thank God! Ali! "

Bella stepped back and watched her husband enfold his ex girlfriend within his arms and she smiled. She knew Edward loved Ali still, he just wasn't in love with her any more. She would always be special to him, even moreso now they had lost a child together.

"Be careful, Ali is pregnant," Bella said.

Edward stepped back then stepped toward Jasper, his hands fisting as he closed in.

Bella grabbed him and tried to hold him back.

"Look at her, does she look like she should be pregnant again already? She is the size of a child, Jasper. Couldn't you have controlled yourself until she got better?"

Ali started to cry so Bella made the decision to be with the one who needed her most and that was her friend.

"Come inside, Alice, ignore this pair of alpha males, if they kill each other life will be more peaceful around here."

She led the girl inside and made her a cup of tea and offered her a plate of Calista's cookies.

"How are you? " she asked, touching Ali's hand.

"Happier than I was. I don't know what happened. My water broke and there was blood, Jas sped to the hospital, they drugged me up, I hardly recall anything much. Then when I woke up, it was over, he was gone. Jasper had to explain to me about a hundred times, I just couldn't accept the truth. The doctor told me the medical stuff, why he died. I didn't do anything wrong, the placenta just separated for no reason. I had been out for four days straight, but I couldn't bring myself to see him even though they said it would help me accept his death. Who wants to see their hopes and dreams dead?

I named him Eric Anthony, and Jasper took me to some mental hospital because I kept forgetting and went looking for my baby in the nursery. The matron got angry and warned me to stay away but I was only looking, Bella, I would never hurt a baby.

They kept me in a room with blue walls and a television. I couldn't eat, it made me vomit, so they kept me pretty much bombed out of my brain and gradually weaned me off the drugs and some shrink talked at me for hours every day and Jas was my only normalcy.

We talked for hours and in the end we realised, I needed another chance. I needed a new baby or I would never let go of it. So, Jas took me in the bathroom, the only one without camera's, and finally we got pregnant.

I have been so much better since the test was positive so they released me this morning."

"I'm so sorry, Alice. Edward has been...different since he found out."

"That I lost the baby?" she asked.

"That he was..." Bella paused. Did she know? Jasper knew but she had never asked what Ali knew. "Dead." she finished lamely.

"I don't know if he was born dead or died later or what. Nobody tells me anything."

Bella felt this was not the moment to show Ali the photo, maybe she had no idea and seeing that hair would give the game away. There was no going back once she knew, nothing could be undone, fixed, taken back. She had to trust that Jasper knew the best way to handle things and just follow his lead. She must warn Edward, once they finished knocking the crap out of each other.

She had no idea what was happening but it had better be over in less than five minutes because Calista was due home on the school bus and Bella would not allow her daughter to see her own father brawling like some teenage thug.

"I will be right back, Ali, I just need to tell them to take it somewhere else if they won't grow up and act their ages. Be right back."

She walked outside. Jasper was sitting beside Edward on the front step and they were talking quietly and civilly.

"Sorry Jasper, you are probably right. I apologise," Edward said.

Bella stopped midstep.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"Jasper explained Ali was going downhill and showing no improvement and he only got her pregnant to save her, he feared she would die if she didn't have a reason to survive and hope. Looking at her, he is probably right. I may have done the same, to save you."

Bella kissed his cheek.

"Come inside, be sociable and friendly, Calista is due home any minute. If you can't say something nice, then shut it. I do not want my daughter seeing you two grown men acting like four year olds."

The three returned inside and stopped dead at the door. Ali was holding Calindy in her arms, cooing softly at her. The baby was smiling and keeping eye contact. Alice looked up.

"The baby woke up and was crying, Bella. She is lovely, that hair is amazing. I want to tie ribbons in it or something."

Bella stepped inside and headed for the fridge and handed Ali a bottle of formula. Maybe Lindy would drink if some other woman fed her. In order to begin another baby, she had to wean the current one and Lindy just wanted her beloved breast milk whenever Bella tried to offer her the plastic alternative feeding method. Bella was not ovulating again yet and she wanted to do everything to encourage her cycle to return to normal. Plenty of women conceived while breastfeeding but not her, her cycle was staying stubbornly absent. Plenty of women didn't have a period once they were pregnant, she was some fucked up mess of hormones it seemed.

"Daddy! Daddy Jasper! Mommy! Alice, Alice is home!"

Calista was so excited she didn't know who to run to first but she kissed both Edward and Jas then rushed to Alice.

"Mommy said Daddy Jas didn't kill you, Daddy was wrong," she exclaimed.

Alice laughed, luckily, and the others joined in. Edward held out a hand to Jas.

"Sorry, it was stupid, I was worried and over dramatising as usual. I thought you were hiding her away from me, or something. I dunno, I was a little crazy."

"You should have come and stayed where I was, there were plenty of crazies there," Alice quipped.

She fed the baby the bottle and held her up to burp her. Calindy had drained the bottle and was reaching a hand up to play with Ali's now much longer hair. It suited her, Bella thought, both the hair and the baby in her arms.

"Thanks for the teddy, she is my favorite, I named her Alice after you," Calista said. Alice bit her lip then smiled.

"My pleasure, I am glad you like it. Can I see it again? I really thought it looked like something you would like."

Clearly she knew nothing of it.

Callie dashed off to her bedroom.

Jasper sat beside Ali and whispered in her ear and she smiled when Callie handed her the ballerina bear.

"Did Calindy like her bear too?" she asked, now informed by Jasper.

"She doesn't play with it yet because everything goes in her mouth so Mom put it up on a shelf in her bedroom and Calindy waves at it and talks to it at nighttime when she goes to bed. Daddy said she can have it when she stops eating everything in sight and learns how to play nicely. I made another dress for my Alice, do you want to see it?"

Alice smiled and nodded and handed the baby to Edward so she could follow Calista to her bedroom and see all her treasures.

Bella went in as well and Alice had a single tear on her cheek.

"I want a girl, Bella, I need a baby unlike what I lost. I don't think a boy would cut it for me, I would always wonder if he was my first son sent back again. I really want a fresh new start and for that I need a daughter."

"Little girls are a lot of fun,there is so much you can buy for them and do with them , ballet, tea parties, and all the pink is just lovely, and the dolls and dollhouse allow me to relive my own childhood a little," Bella answered.

"I want this, so much," Alice sighed.

xxx xxx

**Funniest You Tube ever...I still dont know how to put a link here without fanfic removing bits of it but if you copy this all below and paste it in at the search window at You Tube it will take you there.**

**Breaking Dawn Birth Scene** Full episode = g4tv. com/lv3/42956 A sneak-peak of the **birth scene** from**Breaking Dawn** Yes, that is THE Peter Facinelli - the same person that **...** by 8120518 | 1 year ago | **814,850 views**


	8. Chapter 8

The Secret

Chapter 8

Thrilled as Bella was that Ali was having the scan that would reveal the gender of her and Jasper's baby, she was impatient for it to be done so Carlisle could confirm she too, was pregnant. Intellectually she knew she was, and the stick had agreed, but until she saw the new jellybean nestled in the right location, she would not relax.

Always on her mind was the knowledge she owed the Universe her penance for her part in the hot tub incident.

Jasper had paid, he had lost his daughter biologically and his 'son' completely before he even had a chance to rally and prove he could father the boy, even knowing Eric was Edward's.

Edward would have never pushed, he had been happy despite knowing there was a 50/50 chance he was the father but he wanted Jasper and Ali to have that baby for themselves. There never would have been a big reveal some day when that child cut himself and Carlisle typed his blood.

Though of course the hair would have been the giveaway. Maybe Ali could have bleached it blond like Jas's. Just to stop the gossip's in town having a field day every time they saw Eric.

A scandal was long term here in Forks, Eric would never have been mention without " of course, you know he is not really a Whitlock don't you? That copper haired Edward Cullen lives right next door and their fences are not that secure, if you get my drift?" would have always been added.

Eric would have known by the time he spent a single day at school.

Edward had paid his dues, he lost his son without a single chance of saying Hello or Goodbye. Never got to see him with his own eyes or touch him.

Jas had freed the ashes to the wind so there was not even a gravestone to sit by and ponder what might have been had the baby lived.

Edward put a small plaque in the very far end of his backyard in a garden containing a single rose tree, surrounded by many pretty wildflowers.

The writing merely read " 'Eric Anthony' - not gone, not forgotten, just watching over and waiting for us". The middle name, Anthony, was shared by both Ali's Dad and Edward, by coincidence.

Calista visited the little garden most days and chatted to 'Ali's angel baby' and Edward had given her a necklace with a single angel charm to wear around her neck seeing she was forever playing with the charm on Bella's bracelet. The paternity had not been discussed with her but she knew his photo was on the bedside table so Bella knew she understood on some level that Eric had been her brother.

Alice had paid for her part, in full, with the loss of Eric, the son she had never seen or touched either. Only Jasper had been there to lay eyes on him, and take that one photo, which Bella suspected Ali still had not seen. Surely she would have become upset and come to her friend or to Edward to talk had she seen it.

Jasper had told them he had no idea what Ali thought or knew of the paternity.

He had known from the first scan at 20 weeks.

Jasper had always had a small secret of his own.

His parents were both cursed with very prominent stick out ear lobes and their sons had all inherited the same. Their baby photos, though cute, were marred by these monster ears and their mother had lost little time in having Jasper's surgically pinned back when she saw how much her two older boys suffered at school with the constant teasing.

In his gym, the only photo of him prior to surgery sat at the back of the shelf, Jasper newly born, big blue eyes, pretty lips but those abominations for ears!

Bella knew, but as she rarely judged anyone by looks and rarely saw flaws, she had never thought any more about it.

The first day they all met and Jasper had taken Alice to show her his home gym, she had quickly scanned every photo on the shelf and had honed in on the hospital photo.

"Jasper, your ears," she had chuckled.

Jasper had stiffened indignantly but she had not noticed.

"I swear I thought only the Brandon's were cursed with ears like this. My Mom had mine pinned at three months. My Dad was furious, he insisted I was perfect anyway but my Mom said there was no way a daughter of hers was going through the taunts and public humiliation of every peer making cruel comments about my ears like she had. She didn't have hers done until she left home and earned money of her own and could defy her parents and have them pinned. That she would marry a man with similar ears who never had the operation was ironic. How are your scars? Mine don't show, look, not a single mark," she had said, insisting on Jasper inspecting behind her incredibly flat ears that sat so close to her skull now.

She then checked his and was impressed, barely a scar showed on him either, just one or two slight white marks that could have happened in so many ways, childhood accident, scraping of a sharp tree twig, harsh comb with a jagged edge.

Alice had then joked, "It's just as well you and I are not a couple, we would give birth to Dumbo."

Jasper had remembered that when they sat and saw the baby inside Alice's uterus and the 3D effect showed every feature so clearly, including the small, neat, flat ears sitting so close to the baby's head.

That was the first sign Jasper knew meant he did not father that boy, and he then scrutinized the infant carefully, coming up with various Cullen traits and no Whitlock characteristics. Although he was a musician himself, his fingers were somewhat squat and short for a man and the baby put up a hand and revealed long slim digits that could not have come from him or tiny Alice with her child sized hands. Then the feet, so long and narrow where hers were childlike and his were broad but short.

Carlisle had then measured the limbs and commented he was in the 1st percentile for height, 99 babies in a hundred were shorter than this baby at this stage. Jasper knew a 5ft mother and 5 foot 9 inch father did not breed a child that tall. A father who was 6 foot 3 would, though.

He had wrestled with his conscience all the way home. Losing Calista to Edward before they even knew her true paternity had been a bitter blow; the blood typing had then taken her away completely, and he was not about to put himself up for that rejection again.

Sure _Edward _ said he thought of this boy as Alice and Jasper's but how long would that last? What if he and Bella produced all girls and Edward had no son of his own?

What if he and Bella broke up sometime in the future and she disappeared with Calista and the coming baby?

Jasper had no intention sitting about, falling in love with this boy then knowing at any time Edward could change his mind and lay claim to the child. A simple blood test and Whitlock was off the birth certificate and Cullen was replacing it.

No, he couldn't do it.

Alice had begged and pleaded and rejected his reasons for suspecting the baby was Edward's. Surely Jasper had some long fingered, long footed, tall, flat eared relative the baby had taken after?

They had argued and fought and she agreed to his pleas to continue the pregnancy away from Forks Hospital and the Doctors' Cullen.

He asked her to give birth at Seattle and let them both have time to see for themselves if it was indeed Edward's child, and then they would decide what to do.

Jasper suggested moving far away, maybe Canada? He had relatives in Alaska even, and Edward would not know that, they could take the baby and disappear, sell the house through faxes to an agency, just never let Edward or Bella lay eyes on the child if Alice insisted on keeping it.

She agreed, all she wanted was Jasper and her baby.

She promised in return to never tell, never send photos, never contact either Edward or Bella again unless they agreed jointly to send some generic Christmas Card assuring the couple they were well, happy, alive , just had gotten sick of Forks and it's claustrophobic size.

She also agreed to have as many babies as Jasper wanted in the future, she was pretty much willing to do anything to fix things between them.

Jasper was ashamed that all he had felt as the initial reaction on being told the baby was braindead was one of relief, to his mind it was a new start, a way to leave the past firmly behind and move on.

Alice could have another baby, a short fingered, large eared, rather average heighted baby,and their lives would go on as if the blip had never occured.

Her breakdown, her instant absence whenever he left her for a single minute, when she would go straight to the hospital and stand in front of the viewing window of the nursery and look hopefully for Baby Whitlock, had shocked him. He knew she would be upset, sad, bereaved but he had assumed it would pass and the matron had started saying words like restraining orders and calling the cops and the psychiatrist inside him knew it was not going to work, she was too far gone to take home and nurse back to health so he had consulted several health professionals and had Ali securely held in a mental facility until she could rationalize and recover.

His return to Forks was something he needed to do for himself, he wanted to talk to someone who would sympathize with him and his losses, and Bella was the only one who would do that.

Edward trying to make him tell details of the birth and insisting he had the right to visit Alice had pushed all Jasper's buttons. Edward had already had his chance with Ali, they were done, their baby was dead, she was with him now and Edward should back off and look after Bella and the girls and go on with his own business, not harp about Jasper's girlfriend. The man didn't get 'over' meant 'over'. So ironic, all Edward's problems with that stalker chick yet he was just as bad.

Now Alice was home where she belonged, and the baby in her belly was the child she had created with Jasper, the right man, and their life was perfect.

Edward had stepped back once he saw Ali blossom and gain weight and just be happy again at last.

Carlisle had welcomed them back at Forks Hospital, and he never said a single word about their abrupt transferring last time, all he wanted was a copy of her medical records which he studied silently and now he was sliding the transducer across her abdomen and all three were looking in awe at the perfect but bat eared baby girl Ali was carrying.

"Wow, those ears," Carlisle murmured.

"My family has it's own plastic surgeon practically," Ali had joked. "He has to step up and flatten the ears of every Brandon child going back as long as the operation has been available."

"Or we could use the Whitlock plastic surgeon, he has had just as much practice," Jasper had mused out loud. He could not hide the joy he felt seeing those ears, they were like the sign they had succeeded this time and all would be perfect from now on.

"Maybe she will have a mop of hair and you can arrange it over those wingnuts," Carlisle joined in.

"Nope, doesn't work, my Mom tried that with me before the op; ribbons, hairbands, those ears always break through, I think she kept a bonnet on me day and night until the procedure. They will need pinning," Ali answered. "Carlisle, you said 'she'?"

"Yeah, the other end is clearly on show, there we go, three white lines."

The couple smiled at one another.

A new daughter, a new beginning.

Out with the old and in with the new.

This baby could not be taken from Jasper, she was a true Whitlock.

"Okay, I guess this means we get married now, before the birth," he suggested to Ali.

"I always had this dream but I never told Edw...anyone. I always wanted to walk down the aisle with a newborn in my arms and have it baptised at the wedding. Would you consider that?" she asked.

"So long as we are legally married before delivery, just some quick courthouse service, then you, my darling Ali, may have whatever wedding ceremony you prefer."

xxx xxx xxx

Bella congratulated her friends and kissed them both then Edward, in his white coat that made him look even hotter and more appealing, walked towards her and took her hand, kissing the knuckles.

"Shall we go in and see if we are at nine weeks as usual?" he asked. Bella had had a period, a normal period, since the test but both knew by now, that's the way it would always be with her body.

The image on the screen was indeed nine weeks, once again the period had meant nothing, merely it had tried to confuse the issue and hide the date of conception as always.

Carlisle moved the transducer across the black abyss of her uterus.

"Oops, I told you repeated love making when trying to conceive could have consequences, Edward," he joked nervously.

Edward frowned and stood closer to the screen and ran a finger over a second tiny jellybean, then a third.

"Triplets," he choked out. Being a doctor, he knew this drastically reduced the chances of a happy ending to the pregnancy.

"Should we attempt to reduce?" he asked his father.

"Reduce? Kill them?" Bella cried out.

"Sometimes it can make all the difference, Bella. Twins would probably be safe, even though you are rather short and won't have a lot of room for two. Three pretty much guarantees extreme premature delivery and the associated risks of multiple babies dying or having handicaps."

"Edward, be their father, not their doctor," she begged.

"I can't," he replied. "Your health is what is paramount to me, I want them all but not at the expense of losing you. We will remain detached and calm and clinical while Carlisle and I assess the risks. You will not be carrying all three if it means you will die trying. Trust me to make the correct decision." His eyes were suspiciously shiny and he rubbed them as though tired, hiding his pain and disappointment. This was meant to be a joyful experience.

Bella wiped the tears from her face. She knew he was fighting to remain composed, he would not want another child of his to die especially not at his own orders.

"Looks like the piper is here with his hand out," Bella sighed to herself. So this was the price she had to pay.

Lose at least one of the babies and have that on their consciences forever, when they looked at their twins, the missing sibling would be there as well, always. Or fight Edward, maybe have to leave Edward, and maybe run to Seattle like Ali had and fight to keep all three babies inside until they either were born or killed her, their host.

She really was between a rock and a hard place.

xxx xxx

Edward lay beside her in the dark. He had pitched the facts to her, explaining with statistics and real life examples of how many triplet pregnancies ended with three viable infants and a living mother, and now he was done. She knew the facts, but the ultimate decision was hers.

Carlisle had pointed out to Edward the folly of trying to force any decision on Bella. She should choose, she would be the one facing the test of what would be best and the odds were stacked against them.

Maybe she would decide to end the pregnancy completely, maybe she would agree to reduce, thus risking losing all three anyway if things went wrong, maybe she would feel the need to try and keep them all even if it meant ultimately having to lose them anyway somewhere along the line.

"It's her soul and her conscience, Edward. We know what we would do but we can't force her and have Bella blame us, what if we reduce and the twins are stillborn or one dies anyway? She will always blame us for interfering. She will be living with you a very long time, do you wish to have to face her every day from now on and know she didn't want you to condemn one of her children to death? I say trust her. Give her all the facts, as sad and ugly as they may be, and let her choose. Support her decision. Make up your mind now whatever she decides, even if it is not what you want, you will agree with and we will do our utmost to get a happy ending from whatever we have to work with."

Edward knew in his heart this was all true.

Her body, her babies. He was but the sperm donor that caused this tragedy waiting to happen. He hoped she would decide to reduce one fetus now, and carry the twins. If they lost them all, then maybe that was how it was meant to be all along. Maybe this pregnancy was not viable at all, maybe it was. Maybe she would surprise them all and keep all three safe until they were mature enough to survive and even if handicapped, Edward knew they would both accept and love their babies.

He leaned over and kissed her slightly rounded belly in three places.

"I love you, and I love them all. I have a scan photo framed on my desk. I will agree to whatever you decide Bella, and I promise to never throw it back in your face if things go wrong. We made these babies with the best intentions, now we have to do what is best for them all, and I know, in your heart, you know what that is, so tell me, and we will proceed from there. Do what your heart decides. Keep all three, try and save two at the expense of the third, or let this end and try again, whatever, I promise I will back you up whatever you need to do, and never, ever hold you to blame. I love you, Bella, you are my life now. Your decision is my decision too. Nobody else ever has to know, we can say you were not pregnant after all, we can say it was always just twins, or a single baby, this can be our secret. Nobody ever has to know what we decide. Carlisle can never tell, he would never tell."

Edward had told all and sundry who had called to hear the scan results the story he and Carlisle had agreed on. The scanner was faulty, they had to wait until it was repaired to do her scan so no news yet.

It could be their secret.


	9. Chapter 9

The Secret

Chapter 9

(Big jump forward in time)

"Mother, I want to bring Benjamin home to meet Dad this weekend, what do you think? Good idea? Nothing's going on, right? He's over the whole Alec thing?" Calindy asked anxiously. Calindy had always been Edward's favorite child but along with the joy of that came the responsibility of always trying to do what he would want her to. She wanted what he wanted for her, for him to always be happy with any decisions she made, so she had always thought everything through long and hard and considered every angle and option. Keeping Benjamin away from the family while they were together in college had seemed the smart thing to do, she did not want Edward panicking over any boyfriend who turned out to be a short term distraction, so she had waited until she herself was sure he was The One.

"Oh of course, sweetie, now they are safely married there's not a lot he can do about it anyway and as they are about to make him a grandfather, I think Alec is Edward's favorite person. Until the baby arrives, anyway. Of course you should bring your boyfriend home, any boyfriend of yours is always welcome."

Bella had met Benjamin numerous times when she visited Lindy in New York. Their second daughter was doing everything right, passing each year with honors, finishing her course before marrying, getting engaged to a boy her own age. Benjamin was black haired, tall, and talented, musically and academically. He was an 'emo' or 'goth', whatever they called themselves. No eye make-up around his elders, thank God, and the hair was probably dyed black, but it suited him. He dressed in all black maybe with a little red here and there and Bella was astounded to find it very sexy and attractive. She wished the goths had been around more when she was young and single. Benjamin was in a band, and Bella had accompanied her daughter to several of his concerts.

She was sure his introduction to her husband would go quite smoothly, if he left off the black fingernail polish and eye make-up as he had promised.

After the kerfuffle when Calista arrived home engaged to one of her teachers years earlier, anyone would look better to Edward. Now that had been stressful.

Edward had ordered the man from their house and forbidden Callie to have anything more to do with him and he had changed the locks, like a twenty two year old girl was going to let her father keep her from the man she loved.

Bella had used all her feminine wiles to gradually get Edward on side, pointing out Callie had been somewhat wild as a teen and an older man was what she needed. She had even pulled the Jeff card.

Jeff had been Callie's boyfriend for all of high school and the first two years of college, and it wasn't his long, waist length hair that annoyed Edward the most, it was the man's overall prettiness, Bella suspected.

The Jeff era had been rough, Edward had allowed the boy in the house but not in Calindy's bedroom, he had to sleep downstairs on the couch. No guestroom since the birth of the boys had meant all bedrooms were occupied, and anyway, Edward decreed no boyfriends were sleeping upstairs, lest they go creeping into certain girl's bedrooms at night.

Edward had theatrically sniffed the air whenever Jeff was there, sure he could smell weed on the boy.

"Okay, who has the marijuana?" he would ask, glaring blatantly at Jeff, who never showed the slightest sign of being ruffled by the accusations.

"Dad, please. You are embarrassing me and yourself, Jeff does not smoke weed. Long hair is not a clear indication of drug use, would you please behave for one weekend?" Callie used to beg.

All the same, nice as he was, it had still been a relief when they decided to split up and move on and then they got to meet Alec.

In character, Edward had ranted and raved for a few months, everyone in Forks knew his opinion of the university professor. Luckily he had stopped short of calling the man a pedophile, which Bella knew was what he was thinking. She had pointed out an underage child had to be involved, not a twenty year old woman with the same stubbornness and determination as Edward possessed himself and over the years, Edward had slowly accepted the man was actually good for Calista.

He had proudly given her away to Alec at the eventual wedding two years later and now their firstborn was carrying her firstborn and Edward had done the scan and knew before anyone else, it was a granddaughter.

Edward's delight in his daughter's when they were small was rekindled at the knowledge soon a granddaughter would arrive and they could buy pink and frilly. He had Calista's doll's house in the garage, giving it a fresh coat of paint so it would be ready for the little girl when she was born.

Bella breathed in deeply and went to find her husband to give him a quiet talking to. Benjamin Cheney was a perfectly nice boy, good looking to such a point Bella found herself staring at him when unobserved. He really had such a beautiful face, she thought to herself, then she would blush and remind herself this was a man many years her junior, and she had already had her turn at being captivated by a beautiful man, now it was Calindy's turn.

The initial meeting went well, Bella had invited Alice and Jasper and their two girls over to make sure there was a crowd and thus it would be less likely Edward would be too critical of the new young man.

"Do not tell your father you are engaged this weekend," Bella had begged their younger daughter. "Wait until Callie's baby is born and when we are all at the hospital, just make the announcement then, your father will be so besotted with the baby he won't even ask Benjamin a hundred and twenty questions."

There was nothing shady about Benjamin. His parents were both dead, his mother Angela had been a saint evidently, Bella was slightly glad the woman was dead and she didn't have to compete with her. Calindy's only fear was, when it was their turn to present the family with grandbabies, they would all be named after her dead mother-in-law. Benjamin made no effort to hide how much he had adored his mother, and hated his father, there would be no Benjamin Cheney the third, and Bella told her younger daughter to at least be grateful the woman was dead and would not be cooking her son his favorite food her way, and interfering with their lives.

Dead was kind of convenient, she was out of the picture, and naming their children in her honor was a painless way of having to honor her in Bella's opinion.

She quite looked forward to a little 'Angela' and maybe an 'Angelo' and an 'Angelina' as well, visiting and running about the house with Callie's children.

Bella served coffee after dinner and Alice helped.

"So, he is rather scrumptious," Alice said, smiling at Bella, aware the woman felt exactly the same. Benjamin was one of those men women of all ages found attractive, and Ali was enjoying Bella's apparent discomfort.

"Ooh, blushing, don't tell me he makes you wish you were a single mother and a cougar," Ali laughed.

"Alice, behave! Please. But yes, I would say he is the most attractive man we have had in this house apart from my husband of course."

"Of course," Alice grinned, winking.

Bella slapped her soundly on the arm, and wished she would behave.

"Thank God he doesn't have parents, how embarrassing would that be, with us two perving at him in front of them at the wedding?" Bella whispered.

"Wedding?" Ali repeated. "They are getting married already? Does she have, you know, something in her belly that did not get there via her mouth?"

She patted her own stomach and drew an imaginary line out to indicate a fat pregnant belly.

"God, I hope not, I don't need Edward deciding Benjamin is not good enough for Calindy, it was bad enough with the trouble we went through with getting Alec accepted."

"Bella, really, how could you ever imagine he would take Calista dating her professor well? It was a little creepy, almost."

"Rubbish, that girl needed an older man to pull her into line. If Edward ever found out it was his own daughter smoking weed, not poor Jeff, he would throw a fit that would have continued going on today. Calista would be locked in the basement still."

"You don't have a basement," Ali pointed out.

"Oh believe me, Edward would have dug one with his own hands."

As she lay beside her husband in bed that night, she reflected the day had gone well. Edward seemed to quite like Benjamin, the only negative comment had been the boy was 'too beautiful' but even Edward had admitted he was smart and presentable and a good match for Calindy all around. A medical student into the bargain, how could he be any better?

Thank God they only had sons to go now. The boys had brought home the occasional girlfriend and it had been Bella forced to overlook their weaknesses and be gracious, but honestly, that Savannah that Simon had dated mercifully briefly had not had two brain cells to rub together. Edward had seen no further than the fact the girl was pretty and spent all her time complimenting him, telling him she could see where his son got his good looks from.

Scott seemed to choose girls based on their intelligence only, they were plainer but much more 'salt of the earth' types, and Bella had liked them all so far. Particularly his current girl, Ashley, Bella loved her and hoped the relationship was a permanent one that would last the distance.

Of course, they were way too young, she hoped her sons would not rush into anything too soon.

The phone trilled and Bella went to grab it but Edward grabbed her wrist and answered himself.

"Dr Cullen," he barked.

"How far apart are the contractions?"

Bella held her breath. He didn't deliver many babies, was this call about their daughter?

Edward was out of bed, throwing on the set of clothing he had kept on the chair in the bedroom for weeks now.

"Calista?" Bella asked.

"Yes, her contractions are eleven minutes apart but I told Alec to bring her in right away so we can monitor them and make sure she is safe. And the baby of course."

He caught his wife in his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"This is just so amazing, Bella. I can't believe we are about to become grandparents! And at our youthful ages."

Bella laughed, he was so sweet. She knew he still felt like a twenty something year old as did she. Their lovelife was still amazing, still almost every morning and every evening, and he still did sweet romantic things, bought her little surprises, took her away for weekends, made sure the love was kept boiling along with the lust.

She had never looked at another man since their pairing, Edward was clearly the man she had always meant to be with. Well, okay, she did find Benjamin very...attractive but that was different, he was simply a very charismatic and pretty man. Nobody female with a pulse would not be attracted, she blushed.

Calindy was a beautiful girl, she had taken after her father and Bella and Alice had speculated about how very attractive their offspring would be. Bella just hoped they had not started one yet, she preferred Edward stayed convinced his daughter was a virgin, even if that ship had sailed long ago.

He had to give up that fantasy about their older daughter when Callie married, though, thinking about it, it had not been until this baby's conception that he started making snarky comments about Alec being unable to keep his dirty hands to himself, maybe he had fooled himself the girl was virginal until that point.

Men were so funny, she mused. She had caught Jeff and Callie together on many occasions and she suspected the boyfriend before him had been 'special' as well, Callie had mooned over him for months, what was his name again?

"Bella, come on," Edward urged.

Bella opened the door to Scott's room and gasped quietly at the sight of his six foot plus body wrapped around Ashley. Bella had no idea she was even in the house. Scott opened a single eye and smiled at his mother, smirked, more accurately. She was much more accepting about life than Edward and she would never over react about his girlfriend sleeping in his bed.

"Callie is in labor, we may be gone a while. Just let Simon and Calindy know where we are at breakfast. Good night."

Bella hurried downstairs, there was a very real chance her husband would leave without her if she didn't.

xxx xxx xxx

Edward could only observe seeing it was his daughter in labor, but he was pacing the floor like an expectant new father to be himself and sighing over every decision. The girl needed an epidural, how could they not see this? How could they let his little Callie be in so much pain?

"Drugs are not bad in this situation, Callie, just say the word and they will give you a spinal block or an epidural, or both," Edward said for the fourth time.

Bella grabbed his hand.

"Edward, Callie wants to do this, she wants a completely natural delivery, just relax."

"But she is in pain," he said, as if such a thing should be against the law.

"Edward, she is coping. Of course there is pain, there is always pain in childbirth. You know that. Would you just calm down or Dr Tyler will kick us out."

Dr Tyler smiled but it did not reach his eyes, having to deliver the first grandchild of the Chief of Medicine in front of the man himself was no picnic.

A nurse entered and touched Bella's hand.

"Dr and Mrs Carlisle Cullen asked that I let you know they are in the waiting room, and Calindy is there too. She said her brothers chose to stay in bed and will be here in the morning."

"Thanks, Monica," Bella answered.

"Want to come see your parents for a while and give Dr Tyler a break from us?" Bella astutely suggested.

"I can't leave Calista now," he protested, as if the very idea was proposterous.

"Edward, we will be on the other side of that door, Monica will come fetch us if anything changes. Callie has five more centimeters to go, let's give her and Alec some time alone. Come on, we can come back before the pushing starts," she promised.

Edward looked torn but his wife pulled on his hand and dragged him out the door.

xxx xxx xxx

Carlisle was laughing at Edward's distress, and patting him on the back.

"She is in the best hands, it will be fine, son. You were not even this bad when Bella had your own children. Well, maybe when the twins were born, you were pretty hysterical that time," Carlisle admitted.

"But this is Callie, she is just a baby herself."

"I doubt any woman aged thirty can be classified as a baby, Edward," his mother said.

"Twenty nine and eleven months. How time flies," Edward sighed. The last twenty odd years of being her father had flown by so fast and now Calindy was twenty and the twins nineteen, soon they would be redundant. Thank God they would have this grandbaby and then the others that were sure to follow.

Calindy stood as her fiance walked into the waiting room and Esme caught Bella's eye and winkled. God, it's not just me and Alice, Bella thought. Even Esme thinks he is hot.

Calindy took his hand and they walked to stand in front of her and Edward.

"Mom and dad, we would like to announce our engagement. Don't worry, Daddy, it will be years before you are sitting here waiting for me to push a watermelon out, but we do plan to get married on my twenty third birthday."

"What?" blinked Edward.

"Benjamin and I are engaged." She showed them all the ring and Bella and Esme raved over it's prettiness and simplicity.

"She must be close by now," said Edward, walking to peer through the glass panel on the door.

"Thanks, Mom, he barely took our news in," Calindy smiled.

"He will be fine, just keep that promise not to put us through this too soon, I don't know how many more deliveries he can survive."

xxx xxx xxx

Alice and Jasper and their girls, Rebecca and Rachel came bearing gifts and flowers and Callie's room was packed. Calindy had dragged Benjamin out to make room for the four newcomers and Bella was holding her granddaughter so all eyes were on the pink blanketed bundle in her arms.

"So, what's her name?" Ali asked, admiring the little pink faced baby.

"Silence please. I wish to announce the baby is named Edina Jaslin Marie-Alyse after ALL of my parents, thanks for everything, you four," Calista announced.

Jasper teared up and rubbed her hand, Alice smiled and patted her husband. He would always feel like Calista was his oldest daughter. He adored Rebecca and Rachel and felt safe with them but he had never managed to step away and cease to worry about Callie, she had been his for nine years after all.

This was almost his first grandchild as well, and Ali was proud Calista had acknowledged that for him.

Rose and Emmett arrived, sans their four sons, it seemed the boys in the family were somewhat underwhelmed by the miracle. Of course, there was the big game being televised this morning, they would probably all drop in later. No doubt Ashley would come and look and make Scott at least do the polite thing. Bella knew she had bought a lovely little pink outfit for the baby and hung it in Scott's closet. She was such a sweetie.

xxx xxx xxx

Edward somehow managed to drag himself away from Edina for an entire weekend two weeks later, and he took Bella to the cottage they had often revisted over the years.

His proposal being accepted so eagerly here had endeared the place to him and he had purchased the property many years ago so they always had an escape hatch when they needed a break.

He lay beside his wife in the meadow they had married in, and he handed her the small velvet box.

"Edward?" she questioned, opening the lid.

"An eternity ring, we will be together forever, never doubt that, my Bella," he said softly, kissing her face. "You have made me the happiest man on the planet and I think you for that, for loving and choosing me, for giving me our two daughters and two sons."

Both were reflective for a few moments, thinking of the third triplet who had not made it. He had died early in the pregnancy thus avoiding any decision to reduce, and Simon and Scott had grown and matured and managed to stay inside their mother until they were almost full term. Both had been over six pounds, and neither had suffered any problems, thanks to their sibling's sacrifice.

Edward had been shocked at how relieved he was when Carlisle had announced only two of the fetus's had remained viable, and that the third had died. It was a tragedy, yet at the time all he could think was how this death had saved them both from having to make any painfully hard choices.

He knew in his heart Bella would have never agreed to a reduction, she would have soldiered on and probably lost all three, but it would have been her choice to try. He had to accept he could not make every decision for her.

They had named the tiny baby 'Shannon' seeing they never knew the gender, Carlisle had removed the sac containing the 16 week body after the twins had been born healthy and screaming, and had discretely removed it from the room and had it cremated. They didn't need to know any details that would break their hearts when this was such a happy occasion.

Mother Nature had decided the third triplet was not to live, and Carlisle kept his opinion that the baby had severe problems to himself. Even Edward had been too overwhelmed with healthy twin sons to ask any questions about the third.

Carlisle had no doubt his son and daughter-in-law would have coped somehow with a handicapped child as well as four healthy ones but sometimes a challenge like that was better left untested.

He had handed his son the ashes weeks later after when things were calmer and the boys sleeping through the night, and Edward had hugged him and thanked him for doing what needed to be done and got a second plaque to place beside the first in the Remembrance Garden.

Carlisle was just as pleased he had never had to kill one of the triplets, Mother Nature had been cruel to be kind and saved them all much heartache.

xxx xxx

Bella lay back in the bath and allowed Edward to wash her tired but satisfied body clean. He was such a wonderful man, she had been very lucky, she knew that. Many of their friends had divorced and marriages had fallen apart all around them but they had stayed strong and happy and in love. It was true love that help them together and glued them so tightly.

They had survived the good times and the bad times, and now the days ahead all looked sunny.

Edina had captured all their hearts, even Scott and Simon thought she was 'cool' now she was home and had smoothed out her birth wrinkles.

Bella had observed Ashley around the baby and decided they could well manage to keep the girl, she seemed quite keen on Scott and Bella knew the ring on her hand was a promise ring, so maybe they would be lucky and she would be one of them one day.

Simon dated about but both Alice and Bella knew the girl he coveted was Jasper and Ali's younger daughter Rachel. He was sitting back, waiting for her, waiting for his chance to win her heart but not yet, he wanted her old enough to propose to once they started dating both mother's suspected.

They wondered what Edward's reaction would be.

There was no blood tie between them but still, Edward always overreacted, they all knew that, and imagining him blustering about raising objections had caused the women a few laughs.

Of course, it was easy to laugh now, how would the actual blow up go down?

Jasper was particularly eager to see Edward try and find reasons against the match, without him being able to rubbish the girl or her family seeing they had been so close for so many years, and they had their histories. Edward could never say a child of his precious Alice's was less than perfect so they all waited for the day Simon and Rachel found one another, and Bella announced she would be running for cover. She had done her bit, smoothing the way for Alec and Calista.

Benjamin and Calindy didn't need her her help, Edward acceptance had been wonderful, and Bella looked forward to the wedding. The plans were already being made for that day in three years time.

The universe had taken it's payment and two small plaques acknowledged the price they had all paid, she hoped they had all Paid In Full.


	10. Chapter 10

The Secret

Chapter 10

Edward opened his office door and smiled to himself. Three applicants for the opening here, Forks Hospital needed another doctor, and he had promised himself he would not be choosing Benjamin Cheney to fill the role simply because he was going to marry his daughter.

He called in the first applicant, and raised an eyebrow. The man was tall, willowy almost and attractive, intelligent, hard working, but his attitude was wrong. He saw Forks very much as a place to start his career then get the Hell out of, onto bigger and better towns as soon as a job opened up to him once he had some experience. No crime about that but Edward needed someone who wanted to stay in the town longer, nothing upset the older patients more than doctors coming and going.

The second doctor was stylish and knowledgeable and Edward liked everything about him. He was very blond and had bright blue eyes. He reminded Edward of a younger version of Jasper but his coloring was more Carlisle's.

Strangely, this man looked more like a son of Carlisle than he did. Edward's looks and coloring came mainly from his mother and her father.

He wondered what Carlisle would think about having a doctor who looked enough like him to cause comments in town, working here? Carlisle still consulted whenever Edward asked him to, he referred to himself as semi-retired since Edward took over his role as Chief.

Robert Thomas Barnes, aged 27. Born in London, and his parents had never left the country he informed Edward when he asked.

Carlisle had never visited England either, Edward chuckled silently. Who knew if the habits of his own had been inherited from his father? carlisle had never mentioned past relationships before Esme and Edward was 99% sure his father simply didn't have what it too to cheat on his mother. he was a real man, Edward had always respected his father and wished he was more like him.

Dr Barnes test scores were excellent and his manner was just what Edward was after. He had worked at a hospital in New York but didn't like the big city lifestyle and was looking for a quiet and safe place to live and raise his children, not that he had any yet.

No wife, Edward checked. No girlfriend, here or left behind.

He sighed.

That was the only stumbling block, would the poor man survive the matchmaking efforts of his wife and Alice once they found out there was a new bachelor doctor in town? And one with an English accent. Was it worth the risk of setting Bella and Alice into a frenzy just to secure an excellent doctor?

Strictly speaking, he could easily employ both this Brit and Benjamin, it would make his life a lot easier if he did.

Benjamin took the interview seriously and stayed in his role as applicant, not future son-in-law, which impressed Edward a lot. Even as he shook Edward's hand at the end, he still did nothing to indicate he would be sitting across the dining table from Edward tonight.

Edward decided, why the hell not make his life as easy as possible, and give himself more time to concentrate on his family, Bella would love to spend more time with him, and Edina was walking already and Calista had just announced another baby was on the way.

She was counting on a boy, as she had no intention of letting the children in her household outnumber the adults. This would be her final production.

Then it would be down to Calindy, his favorite child, to provide them with a few more small grandbabies in the future.

Benjamin was keen to marry and settle down and become a husband and father, Edward suspected it was his daughter keeping things moving at a slower pace.

He was all for her taking her time, God knows he would have married Ali if she had agreed, then Izzy coming back would have caused far more problems. He could never have resisted her lure even with a plain gold band on his finger.

That would have meant divorce and all sorts of hassles.

No, Calindy should wait and be sure.

Edward went into the sitting area and called both Benjamin and Robert Barnes into his office and then thanked the first applicant for coming, thus dismissing him.

"So, we could easily find plenty of work for two full time doctor's and free my time up for my hobbies," he said, smiling. He liked both men equally professionally.

"Where are you living?" he asked Robert Barnes.

"Call me Tom, please," the man said. "I'm staying at the Stanley's guesthouse but now I will be looking to buy a house here."

"Would you like to join us for dinner, my wife is an excellent cook and you could meet the rest of the family, my children drift in and out of the hospital here like it's their second home at times. Scott and Simon are both studying medicine in NY, but they are home at the moment."

"Thanks, I would enjoy that. May I bring anything?" he asked.

Just that accent, Edward almost replied. Bella would have Alice over for desert so she could watch Ali's reaction to this silky Brit tone.

Now the two women were pseudo cougars, he enjoyed baiting them and teasing his wife about having her head turned by age inappropriate men. Tom would be on the list along with Benjamin.

"A bottle of wine is always welcome, nothing fancy though,or beer if you prefer, I'm not sure if we currently have any beer in the house," Edward answered. They agreed on being at his house by 8pm and he wrote down the address for Tom.

xxx xxx

Bella was thrilled to hear they were entertaining the newest doctor in town and she invited Ali and Jasper and the girls, Rebecca and Rachel, to come eat dinner with them. Rebecca was on the prowl for a new boyfriend, who knew what may happen?

The house was in it's usual chaos with the kitchen full of women cooking together talking over one another, and the men sitting outside by the pool. Calindy took out a bottle of wine and glasses for the men, and Edward saw the car pull up in front of the house.

"Go welcome our new guest, Lindy, would you please. Bring him out here before taking him inside for the women to fight over."

"Dad!" Lindy hissed. The jokes about her Mom and Ali being after young guys was not even funny, her father was strange. He was so very possessive of her Mom, she didn't get how he made it into such a joke.

Edward knew how she thought and didn't feel the need to explain, he knew he was the only man Bella would ever seriously want, the jokes were just meaningless fun, and made Bella feel young and attractive, which she always would be to him. It was similar to her obsession with Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp, she adored them both but wouldn't be able to come up with a single intelligent sentence if she met them. She avoided all gossip magazines and entertainment shows that supposedly spilled the beans on the rich and famous, preferring to think of them as decent family men, half their appeal, Edward knew.

She just enjoyed looking at pretty faces.

He watched casually as Calindy approached the tall blond man getting out of his car and stiffened in surprise when she stopped dead and blushed as red as her mother ever had.

Strange.

She wouldn't know him already, surely?

He watched Tom almost choke and turn a gasp into a grin.

"Hey, Calindy, long time no see. So, Edward Cullen is your father?"

Holy crap, was history about to repeat itself?

Was Tom his daughter's 'Izzy' because that was the vibe he was getting? The man had lifted her off the ground in an excited hug and now had put a arm casually around her waist and she was laughing and blushing like a schoolgirl and her fiance was sitting about 20 foot away, oblivious as he was turned away, arguing football stats with Emmett.

Finally the two stopped their quiet intimate conversation and walked together into the backyard and Calindy disappeared inside.

A row of female faces appeared at the kitchen window as Calindy pointed out their guest and no doubt filled in the ladies with whatever history she shared with Tom.

Edward introduced Tom around and watched him and his daughter like a hawk all night. Far too familiar with one another, he decided. He caught the glances and grins and 'accidental' brushes past one another, it reminded him of the times he had endured with Bella before the night he and Jas swapped partners.

These two had history.

xxx xxx xxx

"I think Calindy already knew Tom, the greeting she gave him suggested 'prior knowledge' " Edward said to Bella as they prepared for bed.

"Funny story," his wife replied.

"Tell me," Edward growled.

"Calindy met him in New York when she first started college. They dated a bit then she met Benjamin when Tom went back to the UK for a year to help his parents. They lost touch until tonight."

"This sounds like way too big a coincidence, he must have come to Forks to meet her again, I suspect. How many Brits in New Yorks choose Forks to move to?"

"Edward, trust your daughter , please. She is engaged, not married. I was living with Jasper when we met up again, and it didn't stop us getting together, don't be judging her."

"God protect them from the mistakes we made," Edward sighed and reached to pull Bella in closer. She smelled her usual fresh but floral self and he was finding himself in need of some closer contact.

xxx xxx xxx

Over the following months, Edward watched the engagement turn into a train wreck as Calindy favored spending more time with the blond Dr Tom and less with Benjamin. Her mood changed the moment either man entered the same room as she was in; her reaction was chillier when Benjamin was around, and much more giggly around Tom.

He felt for Benjamin, the writing was on the wall. The wedding plans had been 'postponed' and she no longer wore her engagement ring, having asked Benjamin for some time and space before she decided one way or the other. Edward had a feeling the next wedding was not going to involve a Cheney.

Fortunately the two young doctors were on opposite shifts, thus the reason Edward hired them both, he needed cover all hours. Thus there was no friction at work.

Calindy was openly dating both men but Edward knew it was against Benjamin's better judgement, he knew the man would have scooped up Lindy and dashed her off into the wilderness months ago had he known competition was coming.

"I should have married her last year and not agreed to a long engagement " he lamented to Edward one night after dinner.

"Knowing her mother as I do, I don't think you could have talked her into bringing the wedding date forward, or kept her away from him no matter what. Calindy is her mother's child, despite her resemblance to me."

"I should just crawl into a hole and let him have her, shouldn't I?" Benjamin lamented.

"Don't give up yet, son, it could just be the shiny new toy scenario, if she was sure she wanted him you would be out of the picture by now. Calindy has never been shy about speaking up about what she wants."

Edward was unsure whether he should speak to her and try and influence her, in his experience so far, talking to her was like talking to Bella when she had made up her mind about anything, it was as pointless as spitting in the wind.

He was unsure if he really believed Benjamin was the better man for her; maybe it was just that the man had become a familiar comfortable part of their lives.

xxx xxx xxx

"I was used to Benjamin, I will miss him around the place," Edward grumbled when it seemed the former fiance was never here for dinner any more. Tom was fine, polite, handsome, respectful, Edward had no qualms about him other than the fear the man would end up taking his favorite child to another continent to live in the future if they married.

Or just lived together. Not many of this generation seemed to bother with formalities, but then, neither had his.

Bella smirked and patted his hand.

"Do you really miss Benjamin or having someone willing to mow the grass and clean the pool?" she asked. She had hired a gardening service to do both chores now, Edward had shown no sign of wanting his chore list back.

"I miss him. I see him at work most days, the boy is shattered. She has seriously messed with his head. He is still in love with her, Bella."

"That's his problem, not hers. You can't want her to choose him over the man she really wants, surely? How would that help?"

"We should have had more daughters," Edward sighed. He would have liked both Benjamin and Tom as part of the family, truth be told.

Calindy and Tom were sitting by the pool one Saturday when Benjamin pulled up out front and walked to Jasper's front door, and Rebecca appeared and kissed his cheek and the two headed for his car.

Edward watched for his daughter's reaction, would knowing he was dating other girls at last stir up any old regrets and have her chasing after him again?

Calindy waved at the couple and called out an invitation for them to go dancing that night as a group, and by her voice and manner, Edward knew she was merely glad he had moved on.

xxx xxx xxx

The announcement of the engagement of Calindy and Tom was expected after they had dated for over a year and he had asked her to help him choose paint colors and such for the new house he had being built just down the road. He had asked her opinion on the kitchen layout, the number of bedrooms, and bathrooms, and it was obvious where they were headed.

Edward was happy if she was happy, maybe many people made an almost mistake before finding their real soulmate.

At least there were no children involved, he decided.

So far his children had avoided any of the permanent messes he and his wife and neighbors had fallen victim to.

Maybe they were just more aware of using contraception these days. There were even ads on the tv, something that had never happened when he was a teenager.

He and Bella were enjoying a rare quiet weekend alone, all their children elsewhere for once, the boys at medical school, Calista and Alec away visiting his parents with Edina and the baby boy, Bailey.

"I knew they were not meant to be from early on," Bella admitted when Edward mentioned something about Calindy and Benjamin.

"How did you know?" he asked, narrowing his eyes against the sun. Such sunny weather was rare for Forks, he was pinking up fast and he slapped on more sunscreen.

"She never slept with him," Bella replied.

Edward frowned. Much as he would like to pretend his daughter was a virgin, the hours she was keeping with Tom suggested otherwise.

"Tom was her first, years ago and now he is her last, sound familiar?" she asked.

"Please don't tell me how many were in between," Edward begged.

""None, sweetheart, is that what you want to hear?" Bella laughed. Edward was such a father nowadays. He seemed to have forgotten their own pasts, yet he had found those perfectly acceptable. It seemed only his daughters were expected to save themselves for the right man.

"Yes, that is exactly what I wanted to hear," he confirmed. Just as well Tom was marrying her or he would have to go borrow one of Charlie's shotguns.

Charlie had laughed when Calindy did the swap from Benjamin to Tom, and muttered about how like her mother she was.

Esme had sighed and said it must have been very hard to choose between two such handsome men.

Edward had pretended she meant two such clever doctor's, that sat better with him than his mother looking at young men.

xxx xxx xxx

The morning of the wedding dawned clear and sunny to everybody's relief. Rose was there to use her usual excellent make-up skills on the bride, Alice was an expert with hair so she was curling and straightening and braiding prettily before adding the veil.

Finally the bride was done and she looked amazing.

Bella kissed her younger daughter and left to go to the church with Jasper and Alice, leaving Edward to accompany Calindy in the bridal car.


	11. Chapter 11

The Secret

Edward was relieved to have a few minutes to spend with his favorite daughter before they had to go to the church. Much as he loved Calista and the boys, Calindy had been the first child he got to experience from conception onwards and he had been there to experience her birth, and every single milestone from then onwards, so it was unsurprising she was the the one most special to him.

"You look stunning, the most beautiful bride since your mother, and your sister of course. The day Bella walked down that aisle in the meadow to become my wife will always be one of my most treasured memories. I hope today will be that for you and Tom. He is a lucky man and if he gives you any trouble, you know who to come to. I know I may have pushed you a little to stick with Benjamin at first but I can now admit, I think you chose the right man for you, and it's your choice anyway, something I have had to work on accepting.

I hope Benjamin will remain a family friend, maybe if he keeps seeing Rebecca he will end up part of our extended family anyway.

I love you, my sweet baby girl and know I am not giving you away, just handing you to the man you love. I will always be here, Lindy, come to me any time."

"Thank you, Daddy, I love you and Mom so much, you have been amazing parents. Thank you for that, and for always being there for me, and making my childhood the best any child could have. I hope my own children will be as happy and lucky as we have been."

"I can hardly believe today is here already, it just doesn't seem that long since you were crying in the hospital nursery, forcing me to man up and become the father you and Calista needed, I think we have your mother to thank for my transformation."

"We should go, Daddy, it's time."

Edward assisted his daughter down the stairs, keeping her long train out of the way of her high heeled feet and walked outside to the hire car.

Seth, the driver, was a local lad who had done well, running his own business. Edward preferred spending his money locally if he could.

A car had pulled up in front of Jasper's house next door and two suited people, a man and a woman had alighted and were knocking on his door.

"I will just go and tell these late guests directions to the church," Edward said as he handed his daughter to Seth to get settled in the car.

"Can I help you? I am Edward Cullen. The Whitlock's are my best friends and neighbors, family almost, and they are actually at St Michael's church, waiting to see my daughter get married. Are you guests?" he asked.

"Dr Cullen, I know of you, I am Detective Lauren Mallory, this is my partner Detective Marcus Aro. We are looking for the Whitlocks, we have some news regarding their son born 23 years ago today."

It had been a great morning in all, a case solved after two years of being unable to question the man who was the main 'person of interest', and early this morning the man had walked into the station of his own accord and handed himself in.

Solving the case would be a feather in their caps, even if the man himself had provided everything they had needed.

xxx xxx xxx

"Are you admitting you murdered your wife in cold blood?" Detective Aro had asked.

The man nodded then shook his head.

"Don't you people understand? How could she want to leave me after all I did for her? I risked everything, my career, my freedom, my very life, and she thought she could toss me aside because her tennis coach suddenly makes her feel like a real woman? What the fuck kind of woman was she when she married me? What kind of woman was she over nearly twenty four years of marriage? She doesn't get to discard me, I did it all for her."

"What did you do for her?" Lauren, the female detective asked softly, holding his hand. Her partner was more likely to bully the man into refusing to speak, better she do the 'good cop' regime with him. Aro's arrogant attitude would get them nowhere. Clearly they had the perpetrator of the unsolved crime but she for one had to know why such a lovely, devoted husband who, by his own admission, had done everything in his power to keep his wife happy for years, had suddenly become so enraged he had killed her with a single blow to her head.

"None of it was my fault," he exclaimed.

"Sometimes things just happen," she agreed, soothingly. "Why don't you tell me about it?"

"We got married and everyone assumed it was because she got pregnant but it was never about that. I loved her, I wanted to marry her, I just don't think she wanted to marry me, so I was happy, do you understand? I was so happy when she got pregnant and she had to keep her parents on side and so she accepted my proposal and we 'did the right thing' and they paid for the wedding. It was amazing. All our friends and family, and she was the most gorgeous bride ever but she wasn't happy, I knew she was only doing it for the baby. If it wasn't for him, she would never have walked down that aisle, I know that. I knew that."

"So, you got married and had the baby?"

"Yes, yes, we got married, and we went on honeymoon for three months so she could come back and announce she got pregnant on the wedding night, see, so it would look all polite and above board. We had to pretend the baby was due another six weeks later than it was, to keep her mother happy and to stop her father cutting her off."

"So, what happened when the baby was born?"

" All my family, well, her family really, they were all waiting obliviously at home, thinking there was over a month to go yet. My wife and I had agreed I would to bring her to Seattle Hospital and have the baby there where I worked and I was going to put it into the special care nursery so we could pass him off as a preemie then he was going to make amazing progress and be released and never look back.

His cot tag would state he was six weeks early, and she was going to put that in his album. So they would all see it and read it, understand?"

"So, her family would never know he was really conceived before the wedding? That's not a crime, these things happen. Plenty of couples don't even bother getting married and they have stacks of kids, you did the right thing," she said, trying to comfort him into talking more.

"Yeah, so, I take her into a delivery room and the nurses are on strike so I have no help. Dr Towers is down with flu, they are calling in a locum to help out and the agency nurse is helping this other woman give birth and the matron was taken ill at work and was in the bathroom, it was flu season. The nurse helping me was suddenly taken ill as well, I had called for a couple more agency nurses to come in, but it would be an hour or more before they arrived.

I didn't think that would be a problem, there was no emergency.

My wife was screaming her fool head off so I gave her some drugs to calm and relax her, maybe a little too much. She was semi conscious by this point, barely knew what was happening, luckily.

She seemed to have hours to go then suddenly she just has the baby, right there, and I am the only one with her, and he..."

"He?"

"A boy, a son, just what she had wanted. He was dead. She didn't know, she was pretty much out of it, didn't even realise the birth had happened. I had overdosed her thinking she had many hours of labor to go yet and I didn't want her screaming and being so distressed. I was only thinking of her."

"So, the baby was stillborn and you had to wake her up and tell her?"

"No, don't you see, I couldn't. She would have left me. She only married me because of the baby and he was dead."

"So, what did you do?"

"This patient came in, Mrs Alice Whitlock but she wasn't married really, I knew that. She had swapped from her other doctor to me mid pregnancy. Wouldn't explain why. So, she comes in, her waters had broken, she lost the mucus plug so there was blood and she was panicking, convinced the baby had died. So, I told her "husband" to wait in the waiting room and I drugged her up to calm her down and the kid's head is there, ready to crown and out it comes.

I knew her history, I knew her "husband' didn't want the baby, she had broken down once and told me more than she meant to. Some question about the baby's paternity. So there's them with a kid they didn't even want and me just lost mine that I needed. So, I swapped them."

"You swapped the babies?"

"Why not? I put my baby son's tags on their baby. So, then I tell the father their baby is dead and he is all relieved, I could see it in his eyes, his very first gut reaction was relief and I knew he never wanted that kid, it wasn't his baby."

"So, they never knew?"

"Well, they wouldn't have any idea only he pushes past me into the delivery room and Alice's kid is still there, I haven't swapped them yet because the dead baby is in the next delivery room still, right? I was about to go get it.

He looks at the kid and it's really pale skinned and kinda blue still, and he hears the kid sort of cry a little so I say "Oh it's sort of alive but it's braindead, it's going to die any minute," and he gets all upset and believes me. He starts blubbering and says he has to take a photo, and he does, I couldn't think of any way to stop him. He sits there holding Alice's hand but she is out of it too, so I take the baby away while Whitlock is crying and carrying on to her, trying to wake her up. Luckily he never looked at the baby's wristband because it has my name on it."

"What did you do then?"

"I took his kid to the nursery and signed him in as my son, and I took the dead one to the morgue and it has their baby's wristbands and details on it.

I was sweating, she was unconscious for days and I was so scared she would demand to see the body so I made sure I put it in her head she would find it too distressing. Better to not see your hopes and dreams dead, you know? So, she never sees it. I couldn't have her see a kid that looked nothing like the other one."

"But the father did. He knew what that baby looked like. Weren't you taking a big risk?"

"Normally, sure, because the nurses always know exactly what is going on all the time, but they are on strike, doing this protest thing at the front foyer, holding up banners and shit, so we are running with just the few agency nurses who are run off their feet and so I go in and shave the hair off the baby because it has all this red hair that people will notice, so I shave him bald, and put him in an incubator, and he is all small because his mother was like really short, so he kinda looks like a preemie."

"My wife comes too, the drugs had worn off a bit, and I tell her our boy is fine. Just in the special care nursery so all her family can come and we show them and they buy the story because he is like five pounds, you know?

The dead baby was like nine pounds, so he would never have been able to pull off the six weeks early story anyway.

So, Whitlock signs for the funeral home to take the body and cremate it seeing his wife refuses to see it, Thank God, and we take home the live baby and I do everything for him, she sits on her ass and watches tv and whines about how tired she is so I bathe the kid and I wash his hair with her hair dye every week so he has black hair.

Like her, his 'mother', she has black hair, long, beautiful black hair, she never cut it ever in her life, can you imagine that?"

"Amazing. So, nobody ever discovered the swap?"

"Nuh, the nurses are all back like three days after the births and 'our' baby is ready to go home anyway so none of those nosy cows got a good look at him, and I told them not to visit because my wife was tired so they just bad mouthed me as usual. I never would have been able to pull the switch any other time, those bloody women always knew everything. Knew way more than the doctors, they would have known it was not my kid, I bet. They would have stuck their noses in and started gabbing about the dead baby, probably would have talked Alice into seeing 'her' kid and blown the whole thing."

"And your wife never suspected a thing?"

"Why would she? We had a baby, it looked nothing like us, but so what? It had these weird green eyes but they faded to like hazel when he was a toddler, I just said my late Mom had green eyes anyway. Nobody cared, maybe they thought she slept around and it wasn't my kid but they would never say anything to her."

"And then she wanted to leave you years later and you killed her?"

"She said 'you probably never loved me anyway' and I just saw red. All I could think was, I could have gone to jail or got the electric chair or something, and she says I never loved her? After I did that for her?"

Detective Mallory walked out and looked at her boss, watching through the one way glass.

"Well, he wouldn't have gotten the chair for the swap but he may for the murder. So, who is going to trace and tell these Whitlocks their son is alive? It's going to be one hell of a shock all these years later. How old is this kid now?"

"Twenty three years old," she answered, "today, actually," she read from the file..

"Fuck me," he said, shaking his head."Great birthday present. Finding out he is not who he thinks he is and that he is a victim of crime into the bargain."

He closed the file.

Dr Ben Cheney had admitted his guilt, it was all over but the shouting. He had killed his wife Angela with a single blow to her head.

He made himself a coffee and sat down to read the next file.

"The bastard's hung himself in the holding cell," an excited officer reported, running into the room. "Dead, we didn't get to him in time."

"No more than he deserved, stealing a baby from another family. Good riddance, at least now he can do no further harm to Benjamin Whitlock," he said with a satisfied sigh.

xxx xxx xxx

"Could you repeat that please," Edward asked the female detective. Detective Lauren Mallory had appeared to say something he couldn't believe was possible.

"We have come to inform the Whitlocks their firstborn son did not die as a newborn, the doctor who delivered him swapped their child with his own stillborn baby and from what we have managed to find out, Benjamin Cheney/Whitlock was alive and well. We are just not sure exactly where he is. He isn't on shift at Forks Hospital."

"Benjamin Cheney/Whitlock," Edward gasped, his knees threatening to collapse.

"Dr Ben Cheney stole the Whitlock baby and he has grown up thinking he is Benjamin Daniel Cheney, son of Dr Ben and Mrs Angela Cheney. Dr Cheney murdered his wife two years ago and hung himself in a cell today."

"No," said Edward, shaking his head.

Calindy was sitting in her bridal car, about to go to the church and marry Robert Thomas Barnes but it could have so easily have been Benjamin Cheney waiting at the end of that aisle.

Now it seemed obvious why Bella had found the boy so attractive and embarrassingly appealing. He was Edward's son.

She was reacting to the similarities in them both, as was his mother and his ex lover. All three women had been stealing looks and blushing and getting themselves worked up around Benjamin Cheney and now the reason was obvious.

On some level, they all found his looks as appealing as Edward's.

"I can tell you where Benjamin Cheney is, he is at St Peter's Church in Forks."

Calindy got out of the car and walked nervously toward her father and the two detectives.

"Is anyone dead? What happened, was there an accident?" she cried.

"No, no, everybody's fine, alive, who knew?" he answered cryptically.

This was one ghost from his past he had thought he had laid already.

"I need to explain some things to you after the wedding. Nothing too bad, nothing to stop the wedding for. I will call your mother."

The two detectives left for the church and Edward grabbed the phone and called Bella.

Luckily she had yet to switch her cell off, always worried Edward would suddenly decide he could not hand his favorite daughter over to another man. She had Jas on alert, ready to dash home and bring Calindy here if Edward broke down and refused.

She didn't seriously think that would happen, but with Edward, you never knew.

"Hello? Edward?' she said, her voice a little worried, a lot impatient.

The church was full, everyone was waiting, what was he doing now that delayed Calindy walking down the aisle? Poor Tom was sweating blood, almost, as he kept looking towards the door.

"Bella, there are two detectives on their way to the church. The baby...Eric, the baby Alice had, he is Benjamin."

"What? Edward, what has happened? Are you drinking? Should I send Jasper back?" she asked, shaking her head at Ali.

"Bella, listen to me. The stillborn baby was not the baby Ali gave birth to. He was swapped at Seattle Hospital, by Dr Ben Cheney. Benjamin is my son. Mine and Alice's."

Bella dropped the cellphone and Jasper rolled his eyes and retrieved it. He was seriously starting to panic at the thought of giving Rebecca and Rachel away in the future if it was this hard to do.

"Jasper, put Alice on, please, then I need to talk to you as well after that."

He repeated his story to her twice then to Jasper once and Jasper closed the phone and supported both Bella and Alice and took them to their seats.

"We can sort this after the wedding," he promised, his brain whirring at a hundred miles an hour. How could this have happened? He suddenly felt like he was living in an episode of a dramatic tv realty show.

Suddenly he stiffened, Rebecca was here as Benjamin's date!

His eyes barely left them as they sat obliviously together, happily laughing and he flinched each time they touched, no matter how innocently.

xxx xxx xxx

"So, you were with Alice and she got pregnant and then you left her for Mom and she got pregnant and Calindy and Eric who is really Benjamin, were born on the same day?" Simon said. "How could they be born the same day if they weren't conceived the same day?"

"Benjamin was very overdue and Calindy was premature," Jasper said, looking at Bella.

Bella grasped on to the offered lie.

"She wasn't due for weeks, she just came early," she said in an almost whisper.

"That's why we were convinced he was dead, he was so overdue," Alice joined in. There was no way this generation were hearing the truth about the last generation. The hot tub was a memory all had long regretted and banished.

"But he was like 5 pounds, the detective said. Wouldn't an overdue baby be enormous?" Scott asked.

"No, they reach their peak weight at their expected delivery date then lose condition," Edward explained. It was true enough, it happened to many overdue babies.

He was determined Bella and Alice would not be tarnished in their children's eyes by the truth. This was somewhat close to the truth.

Their sons would probably not be even slightly embarrassed if they knew of the night of the swap over but the girls needed to be protected. This was not acceptable behaviour, hadn't they all learned that the hardest possible way?

xxx xxx xxx

"Edward we dodged one hell of a bullet, either of them, Calindy or Rebecca, could have gotten sexually involved with their half brother," Jasper hissed.

"Thank God for virginal daughters," Edward answered.

He had overheard Calindy discussing just this subject with Bella.

"I mean, I don't know why we never did, there was no real reason, we were just waiting for _the wedding night _" she ended with a whisper. " Benjamin's idea, he was old fashioned in that way. It wasn't like I had any hesitation sleeping with..."

Edward hummed loudly.

"You mean sleeping with your husband on your wedding night thus losing your virginity," Bella ended for her.

"Yes, that's it," Calindy had agreed, biting her lip to suppress a laugh. He was so cute, her Dad.

"Rebecca admitted she was keen to take things up a notch but Benjamin was less keen, he admitted he had started dating Rebecca in the hope Calindy would realise what she had thrown away and want him back, so it was not really ever about Rebecca anyway. Edward, it could so easily have been a tragedy," Jasper sighed.

Maybe the universe had forgiven them at last and saved the next generation paying for their sins of the past.

Edward finally knew they had paid in full, and been forgiven.

The End.


End file.
